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Hi - Long time lurker, first time poster here. We recently sold our house in Bellmore and have been looking for a new one in Massapequa. We found a couple of house we really liked south of Merrick Road in our price range. The problem is that they are currently in the AE (aka high flood insurance) zone on the FEMA flood maps. Based on the proposed FEMA maps, the houses are scheduled to move into the X zone, but there are no further details.
Any ideas on how to get more detail around this? I called FEMA and they said the proposed maps are nothing more than proposed (that was a big help!) and they should be finalized in September. But until then, they can change based on the town.
I don't want to buy a house not knowing if I will be stuck with $2000 a year in flood insurance for the next 30 years. Someone mentioned to look into an elevation certificate, but I have heard that they rarely have an effect on your insurance rate? Any experience with these? Should I just trash the idea of moving south of Merrick Rd.
I don't want to buy a house not knowing if I will be stuck with $2000 a year in flood insurance for the next 30 years.
Unless you're planning on buying an Excess Flood Insurance policy, I don't see why you're assuming $2000/year for flood insurance. The maximum coverage available under the FEMA policies is $250,000 and even if you're in the "worst" flood zone I don't think the current rates are more than $500/year if that. I know someone who lives in an AE zone out on the North Fork and IIRC she said her last renewal was something like $450. A less problematic but still flood-insurance-required area runs about $325 or $350 nowadays I believe.
An Excess policy would fill the gap between the $250K FEMA coverage and whatever the replacement cost of your house would be. Assume a hypothetical total value of $400K; so if you want complete flood coverage to full value you'd need an Excess flood policy for $150K and yes the premium for that would probably be at least $1500/yr or more. There aren't that many companies writing Excess flood policies in NY; Lexington is one of them so you may want to give them a call and inquire.
Most people don't bother getting an Excess flood policy and just cross fingers that they won't be an a Katrina-like situation where their homeowners policy denies coverage saying "Your 400K house was destroyed only by flood which we don't cover, talk to your flood insurer" and then FEMA says "You're only insured for 250K" or worse yet "Only 100K of damage was caused by flooding, the rest was wind damage which we don't cover, talk to your homeowners company." And then the two companies argue and haggle for months or years while you're living in a trailer because you need that money to either repair or replace your hurricane-destroyed house (just like so many people in New Orleans are still doing).
At my last house I had a FEMA flood policy plus an excess flood policy to pick up the gap between the 250K and the replacement cost for the house. The FEMA policy was $300/year and the Excess policy was $2900/year. After the first year I dropped the Excess policy because of the cost but nearly had a coronary every time a hurricane started brewing down south.
It all comes down to how much flood risk anyone is willing to assume versus cost of complete coverage.
Someone mentioned to look into an elevation certificate, but I have heard that they rarely have an effect on your insurance rate? Any experience with these?
Some insurers will require an elevation certificate before they will even issue a homeowners policy; it depends on a house's exact location. Makes no sense considering that homeowners doesn't cover flooding but lots of things these insurers do make no sense.
When I went with Liberty Mutual on my last house they asked for an elevation certificate because the policy mistakenly showed the house being built in 2002. When I proved that the house was RENOVATED in 2002 but BUILT in 1962, they dropped the request for an elevation certificate because supposedly older houses are "grandfathered in". Again, made no sense but I was happy not to have to go to the expense of getting one even though my house wasn't waterfront (though within 500 ft of water).
Thanks, this is great information. The $2000 number was not an assumption, but the figure that Allstate gave me (acting as a broker to another provider) and around what another independant insurance broker gave me. I have had quote for $360 for houses in the X zone, but in AE, the $2k response is pretty standard. Regardless of assumed risk, wouldn't the bank demand excess flood insurance anyway? I'm not as concerned about winding up in a trailer (we could find somewhere to stay), but more concerned about paying a mortgage for a house that is no longer there...
Regardless of assumed risk, wouldn't the bank demand excess flood insurance anyway?
That's a good question. I don't know anyone who has gotten a mortgage on a flood-zone home during the post-Katrina era (it used to be that the bank simply required the FEMA policy), unfortunately. I would think though that the bank might require flood insurance up to the amount of their mortgage because that would be logical. Then again, the bank requires they be an additional named insured on the homeowners policy which is always for an amount in excess of what their mortgage is ... rather than to be a named insured only up to the amount of their mortgage... so who knows?
Thinking "like a bank", I'd guess that if your mortgage was $250K or less the bank would be satisfied with the FEMA policy but if say the house was valued for insurance purposes at 400K and you had a 300K mortgage, I could see them asking for an additional 50K in excess flood insurance coverage since the homeowners policy would not provide it.
Have you asked your lender what their requirements are for flood insurance if you happen to choose a house for which they will require it?
Unless you're planning on buying an Excess Flood Insurance policy, I don't see why you're assuming $2000/year for flood insurance. The maximum coverage available under the FEMA policies is $250,000 and even if you're in the "worst" flood zone I don't think the current rates are more than $500/year if that. I know someone who lives in an AE zone out on the North Fork and IIRC she said her last renewal was something like $450. A less problematic but still flood-insurance-required area runs about $325 or $350 nowadays I believe.
An Excess policy would fill the gap between the $250K FEMA coverage and whatever the replacement cost of your house would be. Assume a hypothetical total value of $400K; so if you want complete flood coverage to full value you'd need an Excess flood policy for $150K and yes the premium for that would probably be at least $1500/yr or more. There aren't that many companies writing Excess flood policies in NY; Lexington is one of them so you may want to give them a call and inquire.
Most people don't bother getting an Excess flood policy and just cross fingers that they won't be an a Katrina-like situation where their homeowners policy denies coverage saying "Your 400K house was destroyed only by flood which we don't cover, talk to your flood insurer" and then FEMA says "You're only insured for 250K" or worse yet "Only 100K of damage was caused by flooding, the rest was wind damage which we don't cover, talk to your homeowners company." And then the two companies argue and haggle for months or years while you're living in a trailer because you need that money to either repair or replace your hurricane-destroyed house (just like so many people in New Orleans are still doing).
At my last house I had a FEMA flood policy plus an excess flood policy to pick up the gap between the 250K and the replacement cost for the house. The FEMA policy was $300/year and the Excess policy was $2900/year. After the first year I dropped the Excess policy because of the cost but nearly had a coronary every time a hurricane started brewing down south.
It all comes down to how much flood risk anyone is willing to assume versus cost of complete coverage.
Im paying $1200 a year for flood insurance and thats the cheapest. we shopped around for a long, long time.
Thanks, this is great information. The $2000 number was not an assumption, but the figure that Allstate gave me (acting as a broker to another provider) and around what another independant insurance broker gave me. I have had quote for $360 for houses in the X zone, but in AE, the $2k response is pretty standard. Regardless of assumed risk, wouldn't the bank demand excess flood insurance anyway? I'm not as concerned about winding up in a trailer (we could find somewhere to stay), but more concerned about paying a mortgage for a house that is no longer there...
if you want someone that can get you a cheaper flood insurance rate, send me a message. as I said, He got me the cheapest rate around. I thin its a joke because my home is 18" above the rest of the homes in the area.
Im paying $1200 a year for flood insurance and thats the cheapest. we shopped around for a long, long time.
Just curious, is the $1200 just for the FEMA policy alone? Or for a combination of the FEMA policy with $250K coverage PLUS an excess flood policy? Or a separate standalone flood insurance policy without the FEMA policy at all?
Btw, some people think that because their flood insurance policy was obtained through an insurance company's agent, that's who issued the policy. In other words if they got their flood insurance through their Travelers agent they think the policy is issued by Travelers -- without realizing that Travelers (or Liberty Mutual or State Farm or Chubb or whoever) is only acting as the middleman between them (the insured) and FEMA who actually handles the National Flood Insurance Program.
So no matter what company/agent you obtained the policy from, if the declarations page says "National Flood Insurance Program" that means the policy is the FEMA one.
An excess flood insurance policy won't have "National Flood Insurance Program" anywhere on it, but instead will be sold directly by, say, Lexington or whatever company is writing it.
Another indication is the policy amount. If it's more than $250,000 it's not a FEMA/National Flood Insurance Program policy because that's the max you can currently get. A bill was introduced in Congress after Katrina to increase the FEMA policy's available coverages but it died there:
[quote=totallyfrazzled;8791165 even if you're in the "worst" flood zone I don't think the current rates are more than $500/year if that]
Where are you getting your information from? Currently in a preferred flood zone on long Island (i.e flood zone x) with $250,000 on dwelling and $100,000 on contents the least amount you would pay is around $400 a year usually $388 to be exact. If you are in flood zone AE and you are required to purchase the full $250,000 on dwelling because your mortgage is over $250,000 and the mortgage company is requiring you to obtain the maximum dwelling coverage (coverage A) on a flood policy you are looking at a rate anywhere between $1200 to $1500 a year with no contents. If you add contents you are looking at a rate somewhere between $1800 and $2300 probably. I have no idea where you think on Long Island you will pay a max of $500 a year in flood zone AE. This in completely incorrect information and you clearly should look into facts before you give someone advise. Now some people are grandfathered into a lower rate for this year only and then will see the new rates that were put into effect a few months ago. But even at the rates prior to this rate increase there was no one in flood zone AE paying $500 a year for $250,000 on coverage A (Dwelling coverage) even without contents. And as for ever being changed from AE to X, in my opinion that will never happen. FEMA is broke and needs these rate increases along with more homes being moved from flood zone X to AE in order to even prepare for what could possibly be a major catastrophe if Long Island gets hit with even a cat 1 huricane. As for shopping when looking to purchase flood insurance, there is no "shopping for rate" with flood insurance for the first $250,000 on dwelling. No matter what carrier you call, every Insurance company goes through FEMA, the only reason why you might see Allstate or StateFarm on the declaration page is because its on their paper and they are paid to process policies. You can shop when looking for Excess coverage because that is actually being written through what ever carrier you are getting a quote from and the rates will fluctuate a little.
I got the elevation cert and the qoute went from $3,000.00 to $750.00 made a huge difference . 8 months later we are now in the X zone and flood is no longer required.
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your information is completely incorrect
