My flood insurance is rediculous and a complete scam. Im paying $2200 a year and I NEVER have a problem with water. I am in a high risk zone. Ive searched about getting it removed but since Im in a high risk zone Im not sure if its possible and I dont wanna waste more $. SO, has anyone ever successfully had theirs removed or can offer any advice? Is it possible to get mine lowered? 

Another thought. Since my mortgage company requires it could I find another company that might not or is that impossible?

If you live in a designated flood zone, you probably arent going to find a mortgage company that doesnt require it. 

I'm in same boat, mortgage company requires it. 

That is correct. Your mortgage company wants to protect their investment. Now if you are sure your house/neighborhood has never been touched by actual flood water, you may be able to get out of it. I live in a flood zone and had my house removed from the flood plan.

 

Here is some facts first.

- Edited.... Ya can shop for flood ins.

- There are differences how the perception of floods are viewed.

a) Floods as the word sats and depicted by Fema for example is one whom lives on the river where the river actually comes in the home and surrounds it is considered a 'flooded home'.

b) If you/like myself, have never had actual floods come into home from the river, BUT had water in their basements, will most likely not be covered if damage occurs. Why? Because in most areas, there are water tables. Example, my slop sink filled halfway with water. That means any drain lines in the floor, cracks, over flows, etc., is still not considered a flood. It means the water table, (under ground), is saturated and when saturated, the water table will rise as flood waters increase. This is not covered under flood insurance.

However, it is covered under waste, sewer and water backup and is a separate amendment to your home owners insurance. Its only like an extra $60 a year and is not controlled by the Feds or Fema.

c) What you have to do....

1) Go to the Fema web site and download all forms required for exclusion of the flood zone. You will have to hire a surveyor who specializes in doing a Height Evaluation and Certificate. They will come to your home, do the survey. They will mail you a Height Elevation Certificate. That and all completed forms must be mailed to Fema for consideration. They will say yay or nay and present you with the letter accordingly. If they exclude you or reduce your zone type, you contact your mortgage company, explain what your intent is and mail them copies of everything. Make sure they say they will honor the decision and allow you to either drop the insurance or get less coverage because in a lesser flood zone. (A, B, X, etc)..,

 

I've done it because my house has never been touched by the river and this house has been in my family for over 75 years.

Fema excluded me and I dropped it. Wish I would have known to do all this because I paid insurance for over 22 years.

Got to remember something which is why FI is such bullcrap. If the Mississippi River floods and destroy homes, your insurance goes up.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Take the high ground.

 

1) Go to the Fema web site and download all forms required for exclusion of the flood zone. You will have to hire a surveyor who specializes in doing a Height Evaluation and Certificate. They will come to your home, do the survey. They will mail you a Height Elevation Certificate. That and all completed forms must be mailed to Fema for consideration. They will say yay or nay and present you with the letter accordingly. If they exclude you or reduce your zone type, you contact your mortgage company, explain what your intent is and mail them copies of everything. Make sure they say they will honor the decision and allow you to either drop the insurance or get less coverage because in a lesser flood zone. (A, B, X, etc)..,

 

Did this 3 years ago after FEMA revised the flood maps. I got a Certificate of Map Amendment and went from Zone VE to Zone X. Saved thousands and FI is no longer required by the mortgage co.

Lots of paperwork but easy to navigate the FEMA website and upload documents. Took a few months.

I used the survey and cert. of elevation from my closing.

As Bhunted pointed out, get the forms through Fema. Have an elevation survey done, send copies to Fema with application forms.

 

I had my home excluded from the flood map about 7-8 years ago. I needed 12 feet above sea level. Survey found the top of my foundation was 12' 6".

 

My flood insurance was about $2000.00 a year for structure only (NO contents). It was a joke. If you let the flood lapse, the mortgage company buys it for you at a higher rate.

 

If the survey is in your favor, you send the forms, you receive a "letter of map amendment" from Fema, you do a happy dance and send copies to your mortgage company.

 

If your home is below the required height, you can appeal, but will be more difficult. Survey cost me $600 (7-8 years ago)

Is the fight worth it? Suppose the water level rises above what is predictef? Are you willing to gamble?

 

Sent from an undisclosed location via Tapatalk.

Is the fight worth it? Suppose the water level rises above what is predictef? Are you willing to gamble?

 

Sent from an undisclosed location via Tapatalk.

Paul makes a good point. First house I was going to buy was on the rancocas(sp?)

Deal fell through, sellers divorce and subsequent foreclosure. 2 yrs later creek flooded and house is gone. Like no trace gone.

Is the fight worth it? Suppose the water level rises above what is predictef? Are you willing to gamble?

 

Sent from an undisclosed location via Tapatalk.

Yes, its worth it. If your home never was flooded by a river, take a 30 yr mortgage and times that by your premium.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Paul makes a good point. First house I was going to buy was on the rancocas(sp?)

Deal fell through, sellers divorce and subsequent foreclosure. 2 yrs later creek flooded and house is gone. Like no trace gone.

I live 2 blocks from the Passaic River. An act of God would have to cause a Tsumami to get the river to me. It would have to climb over 26ft past flood stage to reach me. Never gonna happen. Odds are in my favor. The people that live on the river have had their houses annihilated by floods. That is the worse case scenario by me.

Take it from experience. To each their own. Only the home owner can decide if its worth it. But $60k paid out so others can submit claims is nuts!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Its so wierd that Im about a mile from the river. A couple friends live down that street TOWARDS the river and they arent required. I believe Im in zone A which is high so do you guys think I even have a shot? 

Its so wierd that Im about a mile from the river. A couple friends live down that street TOWARDS the river and they arent required. I believe Im in zone A which is high so do you guys think I even have a shot?

Yes, talk to your town inspector. He/she might share some intel. But what you can also do is bring up the Fema map for your area and see if there have been any exclusions between you and the river. Burden of proof is on the policy holder. You have to do your research.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BHUNTED Shame on you. Please do not spread misinformation:

 

"- You cannot shop for flood insurance. It is pretty much guided on a federal level with Fema. So no matter where you go to shop, it will be the same."

 

This has been discussed here: http://www.njgunforums.com/forum/index.php/topic/79496-do-you-pay-fema-flood-insurance/?hl=fema

 

 

And it has also been discussed at the Passaic Valley Flood Board. And posted in the local paper

BHUNTED Shame on you. Please do not spread misinformation:

 

"- You cannot shop for flood insurance. It is pretty much guided on a federal level with Fema. So no matter where you go to shop, it will be the same."

 

This has been discussed here: http://www.njgunforums.com/forum/index.php/topic/79496-do-you-pay-fema-flood-insurance/?hl=fema

 

 

And it has also been discussed at the Passaic Valley Flood Board. And posted in the local paper

Yep, shame on me. I forgot about that. But everything I depicted to get out of a zone to avoid paying at all is accurate.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanx to all of you fine fellows! I will start digging into this asap. 

Ugh after rebuilding a few houses that were flooded I'll never live in a flood zone. I'd love to live near the river or ocean, but I'm not willing to take the chance. More power to ya guys

One of my houses was listed as being in a flood zone and initially required insurance, but I was able to make the case that, while part of the land was in the flood plain, the house itself was outside the flood area so it shouldn't need to be insured.  The only thing I needed to do for that was show the updated survey.

 

It would only work if you happen to be on the edge of the flood plain but might be worth a try if you have a stream on the property that causes the designation. 

Is the fight worth it? Suppose the water level rises above what is predictef? Are you willing to gamble?

 

Sent from an undisclosed location via Tapatalk.

I don't live in one of those zones, but just watching the continued fallout from Sandy after all these years, it seems for the high premium, it is no assurance of anything anyway (we've all seen the 60 minutes pieces on insurance companies scamming the policy holders en masse).

Might be worth the risk, assuming they accept the survey findings.

But even after shelling out the cost for the survey, and they actually find you don't need it, how quickly will the insurance company give in?

 

On a related question, if you buy a small lot at the shore and have a custom home built (on the standard pylons - 10 feet?  12 feet?), do you still have to have flood insurance with a mortgage?  I'm just curious.

I don't live in one of those zones, but just watching the continued fallout from Sandy after all these years, it seems for the high premium, it is no assurance of anything anyway (we've all seen the 60 minutes pieces on insurance companies scamming the policy holders en masse).

Might be worth the risk, assuming they accept the survey findings.

But even after shelling out the cost for the survey, and they actually find you don't need it, how quickly will the insurance company give in?

 

On a related question, if you buy a small lot at the shore and have a custom home built (on the standard pylons - 10 feet? 12 feet?), do you still have to have flood insurance with a mortgage? I'm just curious.

Elevation of dwelling. That's why a lot of people are raising their homes post sandy.

Well I sent in a application for lower insurance. The quote I got was a lot cheaper for 3 years than I pay a year! Only problem is my bank just renewed out flood insurance this year. Is there anyway around this?

No. you cannot get a refund from Fema in the middle of the policy. You can only switch during renewal time. Your only option would be to refinance your mortgage. That way you get back the fema money on the old mortgage and use the private market flood for the new loan

 

Regarding people saying "why risk not paying it?"

It's dollars and sense. Would you voluntarily pay 6 thousand dollars a year for auto insurance? No you would not. You would say "why would I pay that much in premuims given the amount of loss I would take in an accident?"

 

For the MAJORITY of homes in NJ that are by a river or lake the damage is only flooded basement which is always under ten grand in claim (don't forget a two grand deductible!). The risk is NOT total home rebuild. The typical FEMA premium now is almost 4 grand a year for $200k Hiuse. So do the math. 4 grand premium for a ten grand claim. So the people that would voluntarily drop if they were allowed to are thinking "if I go 3 years without a claim the I'm ahead of the game. Any flood loss after that is gravy for me"

 

It's not abiut choosing no insurance it's about choosing not to be robbed by FEMA.

Private insurers are now finally writing policies at HALF the premium of FEMA for AE designated zones (most of NJ) because they saw that FEMA was pricing it way too high now

FEMA put me in the 1% category because some employee used a fat marker on Google maps expanding a dry wash onto my property. I pay $480/yr for Flood Insurance. I need to fight this, but they make it so hard.

 

Sent from an undisclosed location via Tapatalk.

ha I wish I were paying $480 a year. 

I would like to say to people is this... just because your house has not been touched by water in XXX years, they don't call it a 100yr Flood Plain for no reason. You bought the house there, you have to deal with the problem.  You should have purchased another home... simple. The entire reason why FI is so high is to keep you from buying in the flood plain in the first place. That money gets used to buy out homes from people that bought in areas they should not attempt to live in. And no flood ever follows the exact line of delineation. If you are close, you still might want to get a policy, especially people in urban settings as Storm Water Flooding is getting more and more prevalent.

 

Now, that being said, I will jump off the soap box and say go to the Fema web site and download the forms required for exclusion from the flood zone. Hire a surveyor who specializes in doing a Height Evaluation and Certificate. They will check your Base Elevation and get a Height Elevation Certificate. Then depending on results, you will contact the mortgage company. you can also check this out yourself somewhat by using some simple tools to see if it is even worth the investing the money in the surveyor.

 

Go to Google Earth. DL the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer ( Look up your address. See where you are relatively... are you in 1% (100yr), 0.2% (500yr) or floodway. Turn on the Cross Sections and know your homes elevation from your survey.  If it is close... with a couple of feet then I would look into it. If you are equal to or lower... Move.

Axe, that first paragraph you stated that you should by another house and that flood insurance is high to keep you from doing so is not only fair, but incorrect. My house, (never been touched by the river), has been in my family since pre 1940....

 

When I first took over the house in 1986, the insurance was only a few hundred bux. But as I said, when there are floods anywhere, your insurance will rise and they did to well over 1500 bux before I dumped it. There are people paying well over 2k easy. So an out was not feasible at the time. So your statement really holds no weight. Now on the other hand, if you bought on the river, all bets are off.

I know for fact that folks that did not make a lot of money took their chances just so they could be in our town where schools are good and the location enabled good transportation. We have access to mass transportation and Rt 80 and 46 runs through here.

 

Everything else you said, we already did. So this is pretty much a dead horse. Difference now is you can shop for insurance where we had no choice. That's why I went for the exclusion.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hi,

 

Just wanted to chime in. Depending on the year built, cert,  and the flood standards at the time your home was built, you may be able to jump into a preferred flood rate.

 

So for instance i had a carrier contact us over the inspection of a customers home which was on a crawl space. We got to talking and the lady said hey you know if they punch out another opening of XX Square Inch tjey would meet the flood standards for the time the home was built. What i advised is the insured provide me with a receipt from a contractor for the work done, they opened up another opening in the crawl space, and boom. all done price went down.

 

Just because its AE flood zone or something other then X, the elevation certificate can save you! If you want to talk savings, i would start with your elevation cert, and a discussion with your agent. 

 

Unfortunately alot of people are screwed tho with flood insurance, if the elevation cert review doesn't review with a favorable result then absolutely get the ball rolling with FEMA. I honestly dont think it requires much of your involvement other then making the request, and waiting. You can see if people nearby pulled it off as well since the exceptions are made on the standard maps and included on FEMA website as public record i believe.

 

There is no shopping flood insurance, but certain carriers use certain companies which do the flood zone determinations. These companies end up having results and variations in their findings. For instance if the property is right along a flood zone. those are the ones that really become worth running with 2-3 companies.

Selective, Travelers, Wright, ASI are a few that come to mind. ASI being my fav to deal with as an agent, due to simplicity and underwriting responsiveness. 

Datsun said "hi"

Lol

And I suppose the hundreds of houses down the shore that had no mortgages for generations and thus no requirement for flood insurance that got devastated and now are getting HANDOUTS for repairs and elevation and that money is coming from Fema, and I've paid premiums for a decade and never had a claim. I'm just "well tough you bought in a flood zone"