Lot in Flood Zone AE, Structure is not. Concerns? (Lee: design, homeowner)

[dothetwist]

Originally Posted by 071402

$450 a year is low. That's a great price - for a full year? Citizens? Good for you in any case.

Flood insurance thru FEMA (its underwriter). It's the standard flat rate for X zones up to max of $250K, to my knowledge.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by minister

We're looking at another house to purchase - we've looked at many. One of the things we really wanted was Flood Zone X, but this house is Flood Zone AE. We've already determined through our realtor and their insurance person, that the land/lot is AE, but the house structure itself is not in the flood zone. I suppose they have map, or a certificate, that proves this.

My question is - are there any people reading this that are in a similar situation? Have you seen things change over the years with FEMA remapping? Id likely still get flood insurance, but I know the costs would change drastically between required and non-required.

Here's the deal:

FEMA maps don't get changed or updated.

My house is just like the one you describe, the house is in X, but the lot is bisected on one side with AE. No flood insurance required by the lender, the house is not in a flood zone according to the County.

When a change is made to the land, as was in my case where fill was brought in and the area raised roughly 15 feet, an LOMC (letter of map change) is entered stating the changes made. This is done ONLY after the local authorities, the County in this case, have certified that the land has changed and included all of the supporting documentation, and there is a LOT of it!

The actual FEMA flood maps won't be updated, but a record of the LOMC is on file with both the County and FEMA.

I recently got an FOIA request filled on the FEMA documents for my property, and there were nearly 50 pages covering the certification, verification, tests, drilling sample data, etc. that were done to complete the LOMC. It's pretty darned exhaustive.

You can still purchase flood insurance, as we have, too. It's cheap, like maybe $400/year, but it does cover against "rising water" as opposed to "wind driven" water, which is what your homeowner's policy covers.

RM

[dothetwist]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Here's the deal:

FEMA maps don't get changed or updated.

My house is just like the one you describe, the house is in X, but the lot is bisected on one side with AE. No flood insurance required by the lender, the house is not in a flood zone according to the County.

When a change is made to the land, as was in my case where fill was brought in and the area raised roughly 15 feet, an LOMC (letter of map change) is entered stating the changes made. This is done ONLY after the local authorities, the County in this case, have certified that the land has changed and included all of the supporting documentation, and there is a LOT of it!

The actual FEMA flood maps won't be updated, but a record of the LOMC is on file with both the County and FEMA.

I recently got an FOIA request filled on the FEMA documents for my property, and there were nearly 50 pages covering the certification, verification, tests, drilling sample data, etc. that were done to complete the LOMC. It's pretty darned exhaustive.

You can still purchase flood insurance, as we have, too. It's cheap, like maybe $400/year, but it does cover against "rising water" as opposed to "wind driven" water, which is what your homeowner's policy covers.

RM

I did a LOMC request online to get house rated X. FEMA reviewed and issued the LOMC in 3 days, no paperwork, no drilling samples, fill, etc.

This was Oct. 2015. Was yours a long time ago??? They have automated LOMCs. In our case, WE initiated the LOMC; after it was issued, FEMA sent it to our local government. Our LOMC is on line and viewable anytime anyone pulls up a map of Gulfport.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by dothetwist

I did a LOMC request online to get house rated X. FEMA reviewed and issued the LOMC in 3 days, no paperwork, no drilling samples, fill, etc.

This was Oct. 2015. Was yours a long time ago??? They have automated LOMCs. In our case, WE initiated the LOMC; after it was issued, FEMA sent it to our local government. Our LOMC is on line and viewable anytime anyone pulls up a map of Gulfport.

This was in 1994-5. The developer had to provide all of the supporting documentation on the area that was filled and bordered with a seawall to the County to get the LOMC completed.

RM

[Pragmaticus]

Originally Posted by 071402

$450 a year is low. That's a great price - for a full year? Citizens? Good for you in any case.

It's all about risk (probability of being flooded and cost of damage). If the probably of being flooded is low or damage is minimal, that could be a very expensive price. Just saying. You can't say a given price is cheap or not without looking at the expected cost of damage at that location. That's how the insurance companies keep racking up profit an still shed alligator tears.

[071402]

Originally Posted by Pragmaticus

It's all about risk (probability of being flooded and cost of damage). If the probably of being flooded is low or damage is minimal, that could be a very expensive price. Just saying. You can't say a given price is cheap or not without looking at the expected cost of damage at that location. That's how the insurance companies keep racking up profit an still shed alligator tears.

It is low when the same house, same street costs another homeowner 2x that in insurance annually.

[dothetwist]

Originally Posted by 071402

It is low when the same house, same street costs another homeowner 2x that in insurance annually.

When we filed for the LOMA, our insurance premium had been $1600 for the previous year; after LOMA they refunded it and rewrote the policy for $450.

If anyone has a lot that is only partially in AE, go to FEMA website and file for a LOMA. It is free to file. You can also hire a company to do this for you....they charge a few hundred bucks and most will give you a free review of your case and tell you the odds of getting a map change before you pay them.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by dothetwist

When we filed for the LOMA, our insurance premium had been $1600 for the previous year; after LOMA they refunded it and rewrote the policy for $450.

If anyone has a lot that is only partially in AE, go to FEMA website and file for a LOMA. It is free to file. You can also hire a company to do this for you....they charge a few hundred bucks and most will give you a free review of your case and tell you the odds of getting a map change before you pay them.

If I understand it correctly, a LOMA exists for our property that was the result of the LOMC being done by the developer. There is a LOMA on file, that I know for sure, as we only pay the minimum ($400) for our flood insurance.

Another thing to consider is that flood insurance has a very high deductible, as I recall. You have to incur a major loss for it to be of use.

RM

[TheSkyster]

Get ready, FEMA is going to change a lot of evaluations and designations in the very near future.

[dothetwist]

Originally Posted by MortonR

If I understand it correctly, a LOMA exists for our property that was the result of the LOMC being done by the developer. There is a LOMA on file, that I know for sure, as we only pay the minimum ($400) for our flood insurance.

Another thing to consider is that flood insurance has a very high deductible, as I recall. You have to incur a major loss for it to be of use.

RM

The Preferred Risk Policy (for zone x) has either a very low standard deductible (1,000??) or no deductible at all, as I recall (I am on vacation and cannot access my policy).

Policies based on high risk offer various deductibles; we chose a 10K deductible on our last 250K high risk policy before moving to the Preferred Risk.

Here are the rates on Zone X, these are the premiums and there are no adjustments up or down for issues like elevation certificates as there are in the High Risk categories.
https://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmar...licy_rates.jsp