Is there anyway I can lower my flood insurance? I pay $40 a month MORE than my homeowners and I would need a full disaster or total loss to actually get any $ from them thieves. I do live in a flood zone as Im close to the Delaware river but my house is built above the flood level and its insured for like $50,000 more than its appraised for. 

You can have it eliminated if you feel you are safe. I did... You have to go to the fema site, download forms. Instructions are there. Then you'll have to hire a surveyor to do an assessment of your property. Fema takes all the info and weighs it. If it makes sense, your property can be removed from the flood maps.

 

I paid tons of money for flood ins for years and for nothing. Floods in the worse years never got to me. Unfort if you have a mortgage, banks require it. But they'll let you drop it if it can be removed from the maps.

 

Otherwise, the bank determines the amount of coverage. So no, you cannot in most cases.

 

 

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Tried the same last year.  The insurance agent gave me different coverage and deductible options, that's about it.  I am in "Mud Valley", it floods here so I gotta have it just in case. 

If their is any chance you can be flooded it is worth every penny..

 

 

Not my house but in my neighbor hood. Their were to many like this..

 

I dont expect to get it dropped as Im in a high flood area. BUT my house is built up from the rest of my property with 2 sump pumps. It never floods in my basement no matter what hurricane or storm comes. I just want it maybe lowered? When I pay off my mortgage I am dropping it. $1800 a year is rediculous when I only pay $1200 for homeowners,

Tried the same last year.  The insurance agent gave me different coverage and deductible options, that's about it.  I am in "Mud Valley", it floods here so I gotta have it just in case. 

When he did that did your payment go down?

When he did that did your payment go down?

Slightly

Also, learned something else. Most Flood Ins does not include waste water back up. Which is stupid cheap not to have and added as an amendment to your homeowners policy. I never knew about this till I inquired about other insurance. Even though we never get actual flood water from the river, we do find that the water table can rise like from Sandy which was the only time it ever happened. In other words, we had water seeping through cracks in the floor and our slop sink filled up. We ended up with 2 inches of water in our basement that was kept at bay with a pump... It was due to the towns sewer lines being backed up over 500 feet up the street past my house as well as the water table being about 3 ft higher than my basement floor. Insurance company said that would not have been covered if we claimed it with general flood insurance. I think the waste water backup was like an extra 40 bux a year. When I asked why they never offered it as part of my insurance, they shrugged. It's not someone usually asks for.

 

BTW, in lieu of what Frank said above.

Flood Insurance premiums are not ran by any insurance company. Guidelines are set by the government, (Fema). So no matter what company you use, cost will pretty much be the same. The only thing that will change coverage as Frank said is deductibles and maybe types of coverage. Like I said, keep in mind as you have not specified that IF you have a mortgage, your bank or mortgage company will determine your coverage and they will not budge on amounts you need. So really, the only thing you can do is: a) add more coverage if you feel under covered or b) adjust your deductibles either up or down. My advice is tread wisely on deductibles. In times of crisis, having a higher deductible could mean a big difference. $2000 out of packet could set you back easy enough. It may lower your annual bill, but in the long run, you can be on the fence providing your family with needs in emergency.

 

After 24 years, I made the move to get off the flood plain map. We are over 3 blocks away uphill from the river. It's a gamble, but I've been here all my life (over 55 years), and I know the river like it was my kin.
On an average, that was $18000+ I paid for nada... On an average of most mortgages being 30 years and if the mortgage is ran to the end, that would equate to roughly $22000+....

 

IF you do not have a mortgage, you can gauge your coverage any way you want. Even drop it. Don't expect to get help in all cases if you do. You can file claims with Fema and they may or may not help you.

Oh! One other thing! Reason for this is the bank may be determining your coverage based on replacement value.. Not appraised. 2 different animals.

 

Is there anyway I can lower my flood insurance? I pay $40 a month MORE than my homeowners and I would need a full disaster or total loss to actually get any $ from them thieves. I do live in a flood zone as Im close to the Delaware river but my house is built above the flood level and its insured for like $50,000 more than its appraised for. 

Thanx that helps. I JUST refinanced my home for 30 years. How did you get yours dropped? Are you in a bad flood zone? 

Looks like Im in a zone A4

I just explained that above... Start at the fema online site... start looking for the forms.... there will be about 9 documents you'll have at the end of your research and survey to send to fema...

Look for the info regarding Elevation Certificate to start...then MT-EZ Form... I cannot remember the rest but the instruction sheet will guide you. Before you waste your time and money, make sure you have substantial proof... The surveyor will be the expense. If you are not close to an X zone, it maybe hard for you.

 

I was in an AE zone... been moved into an X zone... Look at the LOMA maps.... Ask around about surveyors to do elevation maps in your area..etc.

 

Thanx that helps. I JUST refinanced my home for 30 years. How did you get yours dropped? Are you in a bad flood zone? 

Thanks for bringing up the tip about sewer backups coverage.  I didn't know about that.

 

We had a tree way out on the roadside that grew roots into our main, eventually blocking it.  Lo and behold, all of our shower water and other great stuff came flowing up into the slop sink.  The damage wasn't too bad so we didn't try to file a claim.  I would have been surprised if we did try and got turned away.

Bhunted did your street stay dry during Irene? If it did then you will always stay dry and your dropping coverage was wise

 

As far as showing a picture of houses knocked off foundations from storm surge vs having the Passaic river just back into your basement. Difference is 100k rebuild vs 5k basement dryout.

 

I've paid over 20k in flood premiums and neve had a claim. I could have rebuilt my basement 4 times in what I've paid. It bullshit

It looked like Venice outside. Water went halfway past my house up the block. Never made it up the grade to my house thank goodness. Hence, just the water table.

That's how I got them to remove me from the flood plain.

The updated maps were nuts anyway. They showed my backyard not in a zone which is closer to the river and the front half of my property in a flood zone. That's where the elevation survey came into play. We proved that if the back grade was high enough, so was the front. The survey nailed it as proof.

I considered getting a cheap flood insurance plan just in case, but haven't gotten around to it.

 

What area in town are you Barms? I'm down by FD Engine Company 2....

 

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Typos courtesy Apple...

Guess Im screwed. Not trying to drop it just trying to lower it. Oh well just gotta suck it up. 

if you want some info, call me at work 732-505-8525, i dont have time today to type it out.  Your flood agent should be able to give you info as well.