2020 flood insurance changes to have little impact on GF, EGF cities
"Everybody in the entire country is in a flood (plain)," said
Both
Changes for 2020 the
The National Flood Insurance Program covers about 5 million policyholders, according to The
In
"Flood (insurance) is an interesting thing, because with what the federal government brings in terms of premiums, and what they pay out in losses, they are always losing money," Haynes said.
Collings said the changes would make flood insurance more similar to car insurance.
"You get different risk for different risk levels," she said. "You know, teenage boy versus a 50-year-old man. It's totally different."
Flood insurance stands out from other insurance, Collings said, because flood insurance is a national program.
"Usually you get insurance through the federal government," Collings said. "You can get it directly from the federal government, or you can get it through your agent to the federal government. So most people just go to their homeowner's insurance and say 'I'd like to add flood.'"
Homeowner's insurance on its own doesn't cover flooding, which is whenever two properties are inundated with water.
"So if a water line in your home broke, that's not flooding. That's on your homeowner's insurance," said Collings. "If the city's water line, or a sewer backs up or something, like a storm sewer in a really large rain event, and your home and the city street gets flooded, you can make a flood insurance claim."
An increase in policyholders?
For the last several years, Collings and Haynes from the state
"That is kind of concerning to me, because flooding is the most common and costly natural disaster," Haynes said.
Collings said that, anecdotally, she has recently noticed more city residents buying flood insurance.
"It's been fairly low for the last number of years, because we've been in a dry cycle. Now there's an increased number of people buying insurance," Collings said. "I get a lot of phone calls on it, and I also talk to a couple insurance agents, and they're saying they're writing quite a few policies."
Haynes was unable to confirm this due to a 30-day lag in the system she uses to track flood insurance policyholders.
"My system does have a 30-day lag, so I can't tell what's been happening more recently, especially with the flood threats," she said.
On
In
Minnesota
"
'Good' rates, coverage in city limits
Collings said the city of
"Flood insurance is still important, and as city officials we are recommending that people do get flood insurance, if they feel that they are at risk, no matter what zone you're in. Even if you're protected by the levee. And the reason for that is flood insurance covers other things, and then the rate of flood insurance is quite reasonable now, for most of the citizens that live in the city of
Because
"If you're in the city of
Policyholders are required to buy flood insurance at least 30 days before filing a claim or a loss.
"You have to buy a policy for an entire year. And there is a possibility that you could use it in another part of the calendar, in July if we have a heavy rain or something like that. Flooding doesn't always have to come from the river."
Haynes said the state water commission encourages all North Dakotans to buy flood insurance, regardless of where in the state they live.
"Just because the map says they're at low risk doesn't mean flooding can't happen," she said. "Because oftentimes in
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