Flood insurance rates going down

PRINCESS ANNE - Somerset County's floodplain management practices which are designed to protect property from flood damage have been officially recognized by FEMA.

As a result, the county's Community Rating System set by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been lowered from Class 10 to 7 which qualifies most flood insurance policy holders to a 15% discount in premiums effective April 1, 2025.

It's been nearly seven years since the County Commissioners sent a letter of intent to the NFIP to lower the CRS rating, and last month FEMA confirmed "that the voluntary actions undertaken by Somerset County exceed the minimum standards." "The CRS rating for your community will automatically be renewed annually as long as there are no NFIP noncompliance actions," wrote William H. Lesser, a CRS coordinator with FEMA's Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, in a letter to county leaders.

Mary Phillips, assistant director of the Department of Technical and Community Services is the county's CRS coordinator. She called it "a long journey (and) a lot of hard work" interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and several personnel changes at FEMA.

CRS communities receive a 5% reduction in flood insurance premium costs for every rating reduction, with Class 10 jurisdictions receiving no discount. Prince George's County and Baltimore City are the highest in Maryland at Class 5 or 25%.

Dorchester and Howard counties are Class 6 (20%) and Somerset joins Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Harford and Talbot counties at Class 7.

The maximum reduction is 45% for Class 1 zones, and Roseville, California was the only one nationwide as of October 2023.

The City of Crisfield has its eye on lowering its CRS rating, but for now flood insurance policy holders in the municipal limits will not see a reduction nor will residents in the Town of Princess Anne.

Crisfield is applying for a $50,000 technical assistance grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development to fund the salary of a CRS coordinator. If the grant is awarded the city must provide $5,000 in indirect costs. The County Commissioners wrote a letter of support for this request. In all nine incorporated towns in Maryland have a CRS rating.

As a national program flood insurance carriers will be notified so the change next spring should be automatic, although Commissioner President Charles Laird said it will be something to monitor closely when that time comes. Mrs. Phillips said some insured properties in special programs may not get it.

The renewal will be annual so long as the county continues its CRS activities and submits recertification documentation.

If there are modifications to change the CRS rating, they will be verified every five years.

Program goals are the implementation of regulations to reduce and avoid flood damage to insurable infrastructure and foster comprehensive floodplain management. For example, the county's requirement of 2 feet of additional clearance or "freeboard" over base flood elevation with new construction exceeds minimum standards.

Over 1,500 communities participate nationwide in the NFIP, and home and business owners in highrisk flood areas with mortgages from government-backed lenders are required to have flood insurance.

As a national program there are statutory provisions on raises in premiums which according to the NFIP may not increase year over year by more than 18-25% of what the policyholder is paying.