Live Insurance News

FEMA flood insurance rate update released by ZIP code and county

May 11, 2023May 10, 2023 Nordstrom

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has unveiled its price increase updates. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Risk Rating 2.0 flood insurance calculation method caused an uproar among advocates and critics who said that homeowners were destined to send prices skyrocketing for thousands of property owners. Homeowners in low-elevation coastal locations would be particularly affected, said critics. FEMA has now released data that reveals where prices will be increasing and decreasing, based on county and ZIP codes. The Miami Herald conducted an analysis of the new data and determined that…

Congress considers 17 changes to flood insurance program

May 8, 2023May 5, 2023 Marc

Flood insurance - Home Floating in Water - Changes

The proposed changes are expected to reduce the cost of coverage to low-income homeowners. Low-income homeowners stand to pay less for coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) if the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) proposed 17 changes are implemented. NFIP has been struggling with its finances amid more frequent and severe storms due to climate change. FEMA is seeking to create a more thinly spread risk by drawing more property owners to purchase flood insurance policies. The agency’s goal is to implement a number of changes in federal…

Hurricane Ian leaves an estimated $17 billion in uninsured damages behind

October 12, 2022October 11, 2022 Marc

Hurricane Ian - Damage to home from a hurricane

Initial estimates from the storm’s destruction are now being released, and much of it is not covered. Homeowners in Florida and other states along Hurricane Ian’s path could face uninsured losses as high as $17 billion due to flooding damage, according to new estimates released by CoreLogic. The estimates show that damages not covered by insurance will be between $10 billion and $17 billion. The uninsured losses from Hurricane Ian are expected to be nearly the same as what the covered losses are predicted to be, which is somewhere in…

Connecticut flood insurance rates rise, and fewer homes are covered

October 7, 2022October 5, 2022 Logan B.

Flood insurance - Welcome to Connecticut Sign

Though the last 12 months have been essentially free of flooding, there have been several near misses. Even though there have been only 18 Connecticut flood insurance claims filed in the last 12 months ending at the close of June, the rates in the state will still be rising. The rates are causing many state residents to take the risk without coverage for their properties. There have been several recent reminders that storms are fierce and quite close – Hurricane Fiona washed full structures away in Nova Scotia and other…

Higher cost of flood insurance causes massive coverage dropping trend

August 22, 2022August 19, 2022 Marc

FEMA’s program overhaul in 2021 sent prices skyward, causing hundreds of thousands to drop out. In 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conducted an overhaul of its National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to encourage homeowners to purchase coverage due to the more precise risk their property faced from flooding. So far, the result appears to be rising rates and hundreds of thousands of people dropping existing coverage. Homeowners that had been purchasing their flood insurance coverage through FEMA have widely dropped their policies, leading to a concerning number of…

Flood insurance uncommon among Kentucky homeowners under water

August 9, 2022August 5, 2022 H. Cutner

With dozens of people dead and rain still in the forecast, the area hasn’t been known for this type of flooding. Regions of Kentucky have suffered profoundly as a result of extensive and ongoing flooding, a situation that has only been made worse because there is very little flood insurance coverage throughout the affected areas. Hundreds of homes flooded, primarily badly, and residents were left waiting to assess the damage. While flood insurance is often purchased in parts of the country at a higher risk of damage from these natural…

California Wildfire insurance expansion act passes House

August 4, 2022August 3, 2022 Nordstrom

HR 8483 has now passed the House and will require studies by FEMA and the GAO. House Committee on Financial Services Chair Rep Maxine Waters (D) has announced that “The Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act” has passed the House, including her bill HR 8483, “The Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act of 2022”. The next step will involve studies to provide assessments regarding the rising danger of the blazes. HR 8483 will require that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct assessment studies to…