Archive for the ‘flood insurance’ Category

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NFIP Renewed Again

December 29th, 2011 by Iris | 1 Comment | Filed in flood insurance, world events

Under yet another short-term consolidated appropriations bill, H.R. 2055, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and signed into law by President Obama on the last business day before Christmas, the National Flood Insurance Program has been renewed again – this time until May 31, 2012.

Had the bill not passed, or the President refused to sign it, the Program would have lost its authority to issue new flood insurance policies or renew existing policies, at midnight on December 23rd.

Representatives of the Big “I” – the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America – are pleased with the reauthorization, but continue to push for program reforms, and a long-term authorization for the program.

Speaking on behalf of fellow agents and brokers, Charles E. Symington, Jr., the senior vice president for government affairs with the Big “I,” said, “It is important to note that our work on this important issue is far from over and the next few months provide ample opportunity for Congress to pass long-term extension and reform legislation that provides the necessary certainty for consumers.”

He also pointed out that traditionally, program extensions were granted in five-year periods in order to help keep the market stable, but that in recent years such extensions have usually been in 30-day to six-month terms.

Big “I” vice president for government affairs, John Prible, also spoke about the reauthorization, saying, “Today’s extension, although greatly appreciated, is just a temporary patch.”

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FEMA Says: TX Fire Victims Need Flood Insurance

December 15th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in flood insurance, insurance news

This may seem counter-intuitive, but FEMA is advising the survivors of last spring and summers’ wildfires in Texas to consider flood insurance on their homes and offices.

Why flood insurance? Because when the wildfires burned away the trees, grasses and other vegetation in the scorched areas, the healthy plant roots that usually soak up a lot of rainwater were also lost. All that charred land means that even normal storm runoff has the potential to cause mudslides, flooding, and severe erosion.

The risk of wildfire-related flood damage is greatest, of course, for property that actually burned, but it houses and other buildings either below or downstream from the burned areas are at a heightened risk of flooding, as well. In fact, it is just this sort of interconnectedness that makes flooding the most common natural disaster in the United States.

Flood insurance can be obtained through the agent who sold your regular homeowners or renter’s insurance policy.

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Missouri Enacts 2 New Insurance Laws

September 20th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in flood insurance, homeowners insurance, hurricane insurance, tornado insurance

Two new insurance laws went into effect last Friday in Missouri, both of which provide stronger protection for homeowners in the the Show-Me state.

The first law, Senate Bill 101, bars exterior repair contractors, like roofing and siding companies, from offering to cover a prospective client’s insurance deductible in order to make a sale, and also prohibits such companies from negotiating with insurance companies on an insured homeowner’s behalf.

The other law, Senate Bill 132, allows insurance companies to legally set up mobile service centers in storm-damaged areas, to make it easier for affected policyholders to file claims. Under the terms of this law, counties, cities, and other political subdivisions may not restrict insurers from establishing temporary operations. Previously, there were cases where cities and other municipalities wanted new business licenses before mobile service centers were allowed to operate after a weather-related disaster.

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Irene-induced Losses Shouldn’t Prompt Insurance Rate Hike

August 30th, 2011 by Iris | 1 Comment | Filed in flood insurance, homeowners insurance, hurricane insurance

Reuters reported yesterday that while the official total for insured losses caused by Hurricane Irene are not yet official or complete the catastrophe modeling company AIR Worldwide is estimating $3 to $6 billion…and while those are big numbers, they’re actually lower than what was anticipated.

Before Irene actually made landfall, many insurance industry analysts were expecting the losses to meet or exceed $10 billion, but once the storm actually arrived it became clear that the damage was much less than expected.

AIR, whose estimate extends to onshore U.S. properties, is the corporation that makes the software that insurers use to model – or predict – exposure to disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes. On Monday, insurance shares rallied much more significantly than the rest of the market, and it is believed that this is based on investors being relieved that payouts would not be as extensive as predicted.

Even with better-than-expected numbers, however, Hurricane Irene is being considered a “worst case scenario” by some analysts, especially for Allstate Corp. and Travelers Companies, Inc, which may have just had some or all of their third-quarter earnings literally washed away. Nevertheless, this should not prompt any kind of industry-wide insurance rate increases.

Of the areas affected, millions were still without power and suffering from heavy flooding even late yesterday, especially in suburban New Jersey and rural Vermont. Adding up those losses will take some time, as will sorting out how many of those affected individuals and businesses had government-backed flood insurance.

On the up-side, insured losses in the Carolinas are estimated at a ‘mere’ $200 million.

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3 Illinois Counties Declared Disaster Areas by Governor

August 12th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in flood insurance

Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois has declared three counties there to be disaster areas due to severe damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure as a result of last months flooding.

According to the Governor, who issued a statement on Wednesday, the July 27 flash floods in the northwest part of the state caused damage in Carroll, Jo Davies, and Stephenson counties that will cost the residents and business owners there months of recovery time.

The governor’s statement also said that personnel from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency have been cooperating with officials in all three counties in order to coordinate requests for state-administered resources. He also said that the state has a strong commitment to helping those communities recover.

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NOAA Says Hurricane Season Will Be MORE Active than Predicted

August 9th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in flood insurance, hurricane insurance, wind insurance

It may seem weird to be talking about hurricanes when so much of the American south and southwest are suffering under drought conditions and horrible heat, but the Atlantic coast is still at risk, especially since the busiest part of the annual Atlantic hurricane season is the period from August to October.

As they do every August, federal storm watchers updated their outlook for the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season last week, increasing the number of expected “named” storms from the initial predictions made back in May.

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) forecasters are now saying they expect three to five of this year’s storm’s to develop into hurricanes of category 3 or higher, with winds topping 110 miles an hour.

Gerry Bell, Ph.D., the lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the Climate Prediction Center elaborated, saying, “The atmosphere and Atlantic Ocean are primed for high hurricane activity during August through October. Storms through October will form more frequently and become more intense than we’ve seen so far this season.”

The climate factors predicted in May to support an active season include exceptionally warm temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean (actually the third warmest temperatures on record), the possible return of La Niña, and the “tropical tropical multi-decadal signal, which since 1995 has brought favorable ocean and atmospheric conditions, leading to more active seasons.” Also at play is a reduced vertical wind shear and lower air pressure across the tropical Atlantic.

Based on all of this information, the confidence for a more-active-than-normal hurricane season has been revised upwards from May’s 65% to a worrisome 85% this month. As well, the number of predicted named storms has increased from 12-18 in May to 14-19 as of last week, with the expected number of hurricanes now at 7-10, up from 6-10.

What does all this mean to the average coastal homeowner? Don’t be lulled into false security by a season that has been quiet so far; check on your wind and flood insurance coverage before it’s too late.

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News Brief: LA Parish Gets Flood Insurance Break

June 13th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in flood insurance

It’s often said that improving property can help save money on insurance, but it’s rare that doing so saves money for an entire neighborhood, and yet, in a sense, that’s exactly what’s happening in Louisiana.

Residents of an unincorporated part of the state, St. Tammany Parish, are going to receive a decrease of $1.9 million in premiums for federal flood insurance, and it’s because the parish’s flood rating has been improved, which translates into an average drop in premiums of 10%.

How did this happen? Well, according to Parish president Kevin Davis, the community has been working very hard on various flood prevention projects.

At the end of the first quarter of this year, there were 35,720 flood insurance policies in place in St. Tammany Parish, at a cost of about $19.7 million a year to the residents.

So far, the federal flood insurance program (NFIP) has paid almost $1 billion in claims there.

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