A four-page unsolicited letter I received last week from an attorney filled me in on some of the inner workings of the powers to be in Tallahassee and reminded me of this famous line from the Forrest Gump movie. This letter was like a box of chocolates as each paragraph revealed something new. Apparently, he has been following some of my writings, specifically about the reduction in coverage for the  water peril, the most frequent cause of losses for property damage and wanted to give me some background on how this all went down. 

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. Amongst the positive changes are that new homeowners will not have to immediately pay full rates and those long time residents holding existing policies will see more gradual increases.

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 pro’s and con’s. Just keep in mind that building code enforcement can vary greatly from county to county so make sure you understand the building code compliance issues you will face if you embark on this course of action.   

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 what’s in this piece of legislation and what it’s doing to still recovering homeowners. Examples of their pending financial ruin are constantly in the press and ubiquitous across the Internet.

It’s been an eventful year for public adjusters and the insurance claims industry. So I want to share my 2014 News Year’s Wish List for the property insurance industry.

1. I wish Congress would fix the Biggert-Waters 2012 National Flood Insurance Reform Act. This extremely ill-conceived act of Congress is causing great harm to homeowners all across this country. Remember, an affordability study was supposed to have been commissioned with this legislation but is now two years away according to some accounts in the media. Meanwhile, policyholders who have been in their homes for years (and I am not just talking about high priced homeowners) are hurting because of premium increases and no buyers for their property. Shame on Congress for this!

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 result of the Biggert-Waters 2012 Flood Reform Act.  Our street is basically an island with water on all four sides. So everyone is affected as are many other communities across Florida including many non-water front homes in flood zones.  Yep, flood insurance and what the federal government has done to all the folks across the nation that are required to have flood insurance is one hot topic.