Save Money on Zone AE Flood Insurance With a Flood Nerd.
What Does Flood Zone AE Mean?
How Much Does Flood Insurance Cost in Flood Zone AE?
You’ve Got Questions –
The Flood Nerds Have Answers About Flood Insurance for Flood Zone AE.
If you need flood zone AE flood insurance or you want to know how to save money on flood zone AE insurance, you’re in the right place. The Flood Nerds at Better Flood Insurance know everything about flood zone AE insurance, including how to reduce your premiums. And this is where we share what we know.
Flood zone AE insurance
How much is flood insurance in zone AE?
Private flood insurance zone AE
Sometimes the FEMA Flood Zone AE Policy Makes Sense
Building in an AE Flood Zone
Factors Affecting zone AE Flood Insurance
Buying a house in flood zone AE
Where do I find the FEMA flood map zone AE
What is flood zone AE?
When the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was started by the government back in 1973, the Army Corps of Engineers was charged with creating flood zones for the US. They created these general flood zones:
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Flood zone X (low to moderate risk of flooding) Also represented as flood zone X-500, flood zone C, or flood zone B.
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Flood zone AE (high-risk flood zone) The practical meaning of flood zone AE is your mortgage lender is required by federal law to force you to buy a flood insurance policy. Flood zone is also called the 100-year flood zone or special flood hazard area. This high-risk zone is also labeled flood zone A, flood zone A1 – 30, AH flood zone, or AO flood zone.
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Flood zone VE (high-risk flood zone) Like flood zone AE, the VE flood zone means your lender is required by federal law to force you to purchase a flood insurance policy to qualify for a loan. The VE zone is called the coastal high-risk flood zone. It’s found where property is by a large body of water and can even include Great Lakes areas on rare instances. The V stands for velocity or wave action. It’s also called the V, VE, or V1-31 flood zone.
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Confused? Maybe this flood zone chart will help
FEMA Flood Zone AE Map
Flood zone AE is all over the US. If you want to find out if a property is in flood zone AE or any other flood zone, use this flood zone map link. Just type in the address and the map will show your flood zone. Sounds like too much work? Then give your address to a Flood Nerd and we’ll get the flood determination for free.
Zone AE Insurance Cost
Some homes have a higher risk of flooding than others. A house right by a river or surrounded by water can be in an AE flood zone.
Properties close to the ocean are more likely to flood when mother nature decides to pound an area with rain.
But a house located in a low-lying area far away from the ocean or a river can be in a flood zone AE too.
If you have a mortgage, the lender requires you to buy flood insurance if the house is in flood zone AE.
Buying a house in flood zone AE means buying insurance. Most people just buy insurance through the NFIP. Most people pay too much money for flood insurance.
Don’t be most people.
Let a Flood Nerd shop the private flood insurance market and then compare the cost and coverage to the NFIP policy. We save most people the most money possible.
The Flood Nerds only sell flood insurance. Don’t ask us to find insurance for your motorhome or motorcycle.
The best way to hold down flood zone AE insurance cost is to have a Flood Nerd shop coverage for you.
Factors Affecting zone AE Flood Insurance
Several factors go into calculating the cost of zone AE flood insurance.These include:
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the foundation in relation to the current base flood elevation
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the construction type
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how much coverage you want/are required to buy
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the amount of the deductible
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qualification for private flood insurance market
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presence of an NFIP grandfather policy.
Complicated right?
The best way to get the lowest cost for flood insurance in flood zone AE is to get a flood expert to shop for you.
The Flood Nerds shop all options to get you the best coverage at the best price.
Types of Flood Zone AE Insurance
The flood zone determination and the flood zone significantly affects the cost of flood zone AE insurance. I’ve seen flood zone AE insurance policies with a cost of over $5,000.
The Flood Nerds shop all options so we can get a more reasonable premium. Flood Nerds always get the best price for flood insurance.
There are two types of flood insurance you can get.
NFIP or FEMA Flood Insurance Policy
For years the only flood insurance you could buy was from the federal government. These policies are called NFIP or FEMA flood policies. They are based on the flood zone AE map (or whatever zone your property is in) and don’t take into account things like the structure or actual risk. The government subsidies some policies and overcharges for others. No one pays the right amount and way too many people overpay for flood zone AE insurance through this program.
Private Flood Insurance
Luckily for property owners in flood zone AE, the government no longer has a monopoly on the flood insurance market. Monopoly may be a fun game to play with family and friends but it’s an awful way to offer any insurance. Especially when the money is real!
The private flood insurance market is a much better alternative for flood zone AE insurance.
There are over 40 private flood insurance companies and they often offer broader coverage and a much better cost than government flood insurance. But shopping 40 companies is time consuming and hard work. The kind of tedious stuff you dread is the kind of stuff that gets a real Flood Nerd excited.
The Flood Nerds at Better Flood Insurance know private flood insurance. We shop all private insurance including Lloyds of London Flood insurance. Often saving 20-50% off the NFiP policy.
The private flood insurance market uses the most advanced technology like LIDAR flood maps and computer-generated risk models to assess the real risk of flooding. In addition to where a property is located, private insurers look at:
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The type of foundation
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The type of structure
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The square footage
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The replacement cost to rebuild the home.
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Prior flood losses (in most cases, property with a prior flood loss will be declined)
This rating methodology is much better than the out-of-date flood zone map approach the government uses. So private insurers can deliver a lower rate while offering higher coverage limits and a broader policy. Some private flood underwriters even offer “pool clean out” or “loss of use.”
Sometimes the FEMA Flood Zone AE Policy Makes Sense
Flood Nerds shop the private market and then compare it to the NFIP policy. And when it comes to the NFIP policy, we have a few tricks up our sleeves.
For example, if we can provide an Elevation Certificate showing that the lowest floor is either at or above the base flood elevation as outlined to the flood zone determination we can reduce the cost of NFIP insurance.
Or maybe we find a historical map that shows that the home was built in flood compliance at the time of construction. These are homes that were built after the NFIP was created so typically after 1973. Down goes the premium!
If we discover that the home was recently moved into the AE flood zone, the NFIP will heavily subsidize the cost of the flood insurance if you buy a policy within a calendar year of the new map. Talk about the premium going way down!
