On Tuesday October 1st, 2013, flood insurance premiums will shoot up for thousands of Florida businesses and homeowners. There are some things you should know.
- The flood insurance program was created in 1968 to make insurance affordable to owners of structures already built in risky areas.
- Flood coverage is required only for holders of federally backed mortgages.
- Property owners with a history of flood losses will see 25-percent annual increases.
- Business structures and older primary residences that have experienced severe or repeated flooding gradually will lose their subsidized rates. They will also see their premiums increase by 25 percent a year until they reach the full-risk rate.
- These properties in high-risk areas will face this increase for their flood insurance that mortgage lenders require them to buy.
- Some 51,000 property owners in Pinellas County could be affected by the new flood insurance rates taking effect.
- Roughly one in eight of the more than 2 million Florida properties covered by the program are still subsidized, but most owners of more recently built homes and businesses already pay rates that reflect the actual risk.
- Only 20 percent of all policies provided by the National Flood Insurance Program nationwide will see their premiums rise this year as a result of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act.
Sources: The Tampa Tribune; Sun Sentinel
