Since part of my property is in a flood zone, I obtained an elevation certificate on my home to prove that even though it is in the zone, it sits up higher than the projected flood waters.
I have an attached garage that sits lower than the house – I step down 2 steps into the garage from the house. The garage is in the projected flood waters, but my house – the entire living quarters is not. Therefore, there are 2 flood zones listed on the certificate – zone A for the single car garage which is in the waters, and zone X for the house that is not in the waters. Does anybody know how the insurance company is going to look at this as far as flood insurance premiums are concerned? I would say the garage is approx 250 sq ft, and the house is approx 1900 sq. ft.
Flood Elevation Certificate?
Tue, Nov 24, 2009
4 Responses to “Flood Elevation Certificate?”
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November 24th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
An attached garage is part of the house. Sorry. You’re going to get zone A rates.
November 24th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
The best thing to do is to call your local insurance agent and ask him to get you a quote.
Since the Federal Flood program is controlled by FEMA, anyone you call SHOULD have the same rate for insurance.
It is good that you have the elevation certificate!
Good luck and I hope this helps!
November 24th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
If any part of the house (attached garage is part of the house) is in zone A and the rest is in zone X, you will pay the zone A rates on the entire house. Also, with an elevation certificate (different from flood zone determination, the elevation certificate has to be completed by a surveyor, at your cost), they go by the lowest level of the lowest part of the house (under basement floor if you have a basement, underpart of a slab if you have a slab, etc). Elevation certificates are required on houses built after the date of the latest flood map, which should be listed on the flood determination. If the house was substantially improved since the date on the flood map (FIRM date), then an elevation certificate is also required. Substantially improved means the improvement or renovation cost over 50% of the market value – be careful – this could have been done over a number of years, not just one renovation.
So, going by the size of your house, you will probably should insure for the maximum available dwelling limit of $250,000.
Remember, flood waters do not know where the human determined “line” is between flood zones. Over 1/3 of PAID flood claims happen in “non” flood zones – B, C or X. This means only people that purchased flood insurance – I’m sure there are many more flood losses that were not insured – (Katrina or the year that the Mississippi flooded its banks MILES WIDE & for several states).
Good luck to you but the flood insurance will not be cheap.
If you have a mortgage, your bank will require it. They are bound by federal law to require it so even if you change banks, they will still need it.
November 24th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Yup, I do.
If ANY part of the subject dwelling is in the flood zone, then the ENTIRE structure, is in the flood zone.
It’s that simple.
So yes, your lender is going to require you to get flood insurance, and your premiums will be graded accordingly.