There are 5 ways to contol flood insurance cost in an AE flood zone, and one is guaranteed.
Ask the flood nerds to shop for your flood insurance.
When you hire a flood nerd we will look at these 5 proven ways to control your flood insurance cost. And, we also shop your property out to the private flood insurance markets. There is something like 40 different options available, and you don't have the time or expertise to find the right one for you. With the flood nerds, you can sit back, relax, and know you are working with the best in flood insurance we work to save you money on your Flood premium. Fill out our form and use this page will give you ideas on how we will find your savings.
Look into if flood mitigation would help your premiums
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Look for a historical map
To get you a better rate, we look to grandfather to a historical map.
If the home was built to flood compliance at construction time, we look to grandfather to and prior flood zone to get a better rate.
Neighborhoods, where developers built homes usually after 1974, could look for a historical map that shows that the building construction took into consideration the flood zone and the time and built the structure in compliance.
For example, the home might have been built to an X flood zone code and moved into an AE flood zone 15 years after the contractor built the home.
We could grandfather the flood insurance premium for "built-in compliance at the time of construction," saving hundreds in flood insurance costs.
Suppose you have had flood insurance for a while and look at your past few years of premium increases.
You can do the math and identify that you see around a 25% standard increase year over year. The NFIP policy is triggering the standard increase for any property that has not applied an elevation certificate (EC) to the policy.
You see, the NFIP believes that they can force you to comply with their mandate that every property should have an EC, and the way they force the issue is to penalize policyholders through premium.
Moreover, the cost of getting an EC is on you.
Most insurance agents (who are generalists and do not specialize in flood insurance) don't even know why this is happening or how to stop it, and you will end up paying for your agent's ignorance about flood insurance.
We will always recommend that if you are looking to buy a home and your lender requires flood insurance, ask the seller to provide you with an EC or money to get one yourself.
They can cost anywhere from $500 - $1,200. We can get you a cost estimate for an EC if you need it. Then you can talk to us and see if the private market is a better solution for your flood insurance coverage.
FEMA rolls out new maps every month or so, sometimes moving properties into or out of the lender required flood maps.
If your home is moved into a higher-risk flood zone, say from an X to an AE, then you will have a calendar year to purchase a flood insurance policy at a significantly reduced rate.
This rate is because the government heavily subsidizes the premium, and you will get access to a PRP or Prefered Risk Policy. If you miss the timeline, then the premiums jump drastically.
Suppose you are a realtor or lender looking for an idea to do some direct marketing for a neighborhood.
Give us a call at 1-866-990-7482, or send an email to robert@betterflood.com. We have an idea that we think would work well for getting your name out there.
If you are a homeowner looking to sell within the next 3, 5, or 7 years if you were to get the PRP policy, you can have that transferred to your buyer, essentially taking the cost of flood insurance off the negotiation table.
Since you are reading this article, you must be really smart.
However, you might not know what exactly you can do to your property to get a significantly reduced premium.
If you are working with a flood insurance expert like us, we can look at your property and your EC to see if there are any ideas we have to reduce your NFIP flood insurance premiums.
Some ideas we will share now is flood venting. Vents will only work if the home is elevated over a crawlspace, garage, or building access that is not finished.
Basically, by venting, you are taking the lowest flood out of the rating consideration.
And with the NFIP policy, anything that is negative 2 or higher, the BFE will see significant premium decreases.
Another idea is to move mechanicals above the BFE.
Moving the water heater and furnace out of the lowest floor and on the roof or attic, you will get a credit on your premium and save money.
