file photo by Boyd Loving
APRIL 12, 2015, 11:51 AM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2015, 11:56 AM
BY FRANK ELTMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINEOLA, N.Y. — A $24 billion sea of red ink has millions of Americans in vulnerable flood zones, including homeowners still struggling to recover from Superstorm Sandy, facing steep increases in flood insurance premiums.
New legislation that went into effect this month — the second time in two years Congress has tweaked the troubled National Flood Insurance Program — allows rate increases of up to 18 percent.
“This appears to be death by a thousand cuts,'” said Scott Primiano, an Amityville, New York, insurance broker who has been holding seminars for clients to explain the new legislation. “The concept sounds good, but no one can say what the full risk is. … They are going to take it in bits and pieces every year and it keeps going until Congress determines we’ve had enough.”
Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman Rafael Lemaitre said the flood insurance program has for decades been paying out more than it took in, with the United States as a whole totaling more than $260 billion in flood-related damages between 1980 and 2013. He said the new legislation is “intended to improve the long-term sustainability of the program while being sensitive to needs of policyholders.”
Lemaitre noted that a previous overhaul in 2012 had socked many policyholders with even higher rate hikes — as much as 25 percent annually.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/millions-facing-higher-premium-rates-for-flood-insurance-1.1307515
That was a memorable graduation…..felt bad for the class of 2011….
well stop building in a flood zone.