July 31, 2014,
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nI & E Insurance Agency 2900 Route 88 Point Pleasant NJ 08742
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n732-295-5584
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nwww.getinsurancequotetoday.com
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Flood Insurance – more problems !
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Kicking the Can down the road AGAIN—and leaving more debt to Our Children?
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Over 46 years ago, the US Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) NFIP
nto provide property owners the ability to protect themselves. The NFIP offers insurance to property owners, renters and
nbusinesses if their community participates in the NFIP program, if their community adheres to the rules and regulations
nthat the NFIP setup. These communities obviously have to adopt and enforce ordinances that meet or exceed
nFEMA requirements to reduce the risk of flooding.
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Months after Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern seaboard hard and caused wide spread losses, property owners were
noutraged that insurance was inadequate and that the price of flood insurance was moving higher. Most of the noise
ncame from people who neglected flood insurance. We see it all the time- people want homes on the water but
nwhen given the opportunity to get flood insurance-they balk at the price and reply “ We’ve never had a flood,
nor its’ too expensive” — the reality —If it happens just once, where will you be? You only die once.
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Insurance is the peace of mind that allows you to start over minimizing the financial burden of a catastrophe.
nnHow can you put a price on that? Yet most people view it as a waste of money. Obviously this writer doesn’t see it
nthat way, as we’ve helped more than our share of property owners and families start over. After the hurricane,
nthese same people cried where’s my flood insurance and why didn’t you make me get flood insurance? We can’t make
npeople do anything. I ask where is the sense of personal responsibility. If you own a home near any water, the beach
non a bulk head —The potential for flood is REAL- it’s just a question of where and when. nn
Floods can occur anywhere, we’ve even seen it in California even where a serious water shortage has occurred.
nRecently a water main broke, flooding the Campus of UCLA. just wait for the lawsuits— who will pay for the monumental
ncosts of repairs? University officials say Costs due to the ruptured water main should be paid by the
nLos Angeles Department of Water and Power – “We believe all costs associated with this incident should be borne by the
nDWP; they weren’t our pipes,” said UCLA spokeswoman Carol Stogsdill. But after all the lawsuits and politics, we know the truth,
nThe real cost of this flood will be borne by the taxpayers of California. So the buck gets passed again!
nBut with Proper risk management a flood policy could have been secured by an independent Insurance company.
nDid School officials and
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Politicians
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ever think about that? Doubtful…
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Politicians think Government solves all…
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Recently the president and Congress signed into law a bipartisan bill that reduced the cost of flood insurance that
nhomeowners living in flood-prone neighborhoods were facing from the increases scheduled due to the law reformed in 2012.
nThis new 2014 legislation reversed the majority of the 2012 overhaul of the government’s much-criticized flood insurance
nprogram after angry homeowners facing sharp increases protested. The bill scales back big flood insurance premium
nincreases and also allows below-market insurance rates to be passed on to people buying homes in flood zones with
ntaxpayer-subsidized policies.
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Once again Congresses has kicked the can down the road, and who pays for it. We all do… The American tax payer is
nnow paying for the people who have decided to live in areas pruned to flooding, and didn’t want to pay for it.
nThe responsibility has been passed onto all of us, and then people wonder why our system is broken, our country
nbroke and taxes increasing… Critics say Washington is caving in to political pressure. “While politically expedient today,
nthis abdication of responsibility by Congress is going to come back and bite them and taxpayers when the next
ndisaster strikes,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington-based watchdog group.
n”Everyone knows this program is not fiscally sound or even viable in the near term.”
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The 2012 rewrite of the flood program was set to correct and reduce the subsidies that the federal flood insurance
nprogram permitted. It also required extensive updating of the flood maps used to set premiums.
nBut once again “NOT IN MY BACK YARD” attitude was expressed as many homeowners along the Atlantic and Gulf
ncoasts complained when threatened with increases. Most of the properties originally were built to code but later were at
nheightening risks due to re-evaluation; and were found to be at greater flood risk. These “grandfathered” homeowners are
nbenefiting from below-market rates subsidized by other policyholders. The new legislation preserves that status and caps
npremium increases at 18 percent a year. The 2012 overhaul Bill required premiums to increase over five years,
nas in the 5th year the price of the insurance would be appropriately priced.
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Then there was the payoff to the real estate industry, allowing home sellers to pass the taxpayer-subsidized policies to the next generation of buyers instead of requiring the NEW purchasers to pay the actuarially sound rates now, as required by the 2012 law. People whose second home is in a flood zone and those whose properties have flooded repeatedly would continue to see their premiums go up by 25 percent a year until reaching a level consistent with their real risk of flooding.
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“While it is important to put this program on sound financial footing, middle-class families should be able to afford the
ninsurance they need to stay in their homes,” White House spokesman Bobby Whithorne said. Several critics of the law have
ncome out. “We’ve solved a very short-term problem and made it a long-term problem,” said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
n”We didn’t really do our work because we were in such a hurry to take the political pressure off of the increases in the flood
ninsurance rates.” Once again the can was kicked down the road and the debt piles on, all we need is another major flood
nand the system will collapse. Many of Our governmental programs like social security and Obama care are focused
non short term remedies and not the long term problem. That would be too hard, that would require truth, honesty,
nhard choices and pain
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The problem with all this—NO ONE really wants to pay for the problem–no one tells the truth, politicians only care
nabout re-reelections and the public for the most part is completely uninformed and not interested in the truth-
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Our problems go way beyond Flood Insurance— they include Apathy, Drugs, Foreign Policy, IMMIGRATION, Leadership,
nTAXES, Terrorism, RUSSIA, the IRS, —
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Ultimately— the real problem— in a word—POLITICS…
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