The House finally came to its senses last week and amended the 2012 Biggert-Waters act by scaling back flood insurance rate increases. This is not only good news for longtime homeowners in coastal areas but also will help revive the real estate market which made some homes too expensive due to substantial flood rate increases.…
Today’s NPR article: Overhaul Of A FEMA Program Has Homeowners Calling Congress discusses the dire consequences new FEMA flood maps in conjunction with the newly implemented NFIP flood insurance rates is having. An issue not talked about is the requirement for communities who opted into the flood coverage program to follow the mitigation requirements established by FEMA/NFIP, which…
Those facing enormous rate hikes due to the recent NFIP overhaul and the lack of action in the federal government to make things right might consider lifting their home out of the flood zone. This article gives Facing Flood Insurance Crisis, You Could Lift Your Home from the Herald Tribune gives a very thorough review of the…
An editorial written in the Washington Post titled “Reforms should tackle flood and moral hazard” and reprinted in the St. Petersburg Times (2/4/2014) attempts to make a case that the U.S. House of Representatives should not follow their colleagues in the U.S. Senate and repeal the dastardly Biggert-Waters 2012 “Flood Reform” act. No need to go into a lengthy accounting on…
This article from the NY Times, Sandy Victims Insurance Headaches Persist points out the rules and regulations are stacked against the policyholder. The National Flood Insurance Program is a terrible and troubled insurance scheme. With 41 years on the clock dealing with the misery of others at their time of loss, I think it’s time to reform…
Q. I had water damage in my house due to an over flowing toilet. My insurance company said it would pay $8,000 to the restoration company that did the clean-up. The problem is that the restoration company who did the water extraction sent me a bill for $36,000. The insurance company sent me a check for…
Last evening we attended the annual neighborhood holiday party which normally is a time of good cheer and an opportunity to visit with our neighbors to catch-up on their families and community news. This year was a little different. The one conversation everyone was having was the unconceivable flood premiums hitting folk’s mailboxes as a…
While the national press is full of politicians pontificating about what Congress has done (as in “done in”) to tens-of-thousands of property owners in the very ill advised legislation called Biggert-Waters Flood Reform Act (B.W.-12) known as the National Flood Insurance Program Reform Act, not to be outdone, the regulators and political types in Tallahassee…
Q. The city where we live experienced a ten inch water main break that flooded our basement with 4 ft. of water. We hired a public adjuster 10 days ago. Now they are backing out saying there are limitations to what they can do. Should we go with the city’s insurance? Should we find out…
On September 11th last year, Rick and I flew to New York City for a planned meeting with Anderson Kill Loss Advisors, and a group of the nation’s top public adjusters at the Manhattan law offices of Anderson Kill. The purpose of the meeting was to meet and discuss current events and future plans for this…