Lauren Bunting Broker MD & DE

The National Flood Insurance Program’s New Rating Methodology

Thursday, December 23, 2021, Lauren Bunting

The National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) has a new rating methodology, Risk Rating 2.0, and FEMA says it will deliver rates that are easier to understand and better reflect a property’s unique flood risk. Rates will now be developed on a structure-by-structure basis vs the existing 100-year flood plain mapping, which has not changed since the 1970s and does not consider individual flood risk and underlying home values.

Risk Rating 2.0 will fundamentally change the way FEMA rates a property’s flood risk and prices insurance by incorporating common sense variables (e.g., more types of flood risk and distance to flooding source) into the rating methodology. The program just began implementation this past October, and homeowners are beginning to receive their new quotes using Risk Rating 2.0.

The second phase of the rollout will be all remaining policies renewing on or after April 1, 2022 will be subject to the new rating methodology.  One benefit of this change according to the industry experts, is that it will be much easier to obtain a quote for flood insurance by using geo location and a few simple questions of the homeowner.

FEMA will be limiting annual premium increases—existing statutory limits on rate increases require that most rates not increase more than 18% per year. They are also maintaining features to simplify the transition to Risk Rating 2.0 by offering premium discounts to eligible policyholders. FEMA will continue to offer premium discounts for pre-FIRM subsidized and newly mapped properties. Also, policyholders will still be able to transfer their discount to a new owner by assigning their flood insurance policy when their property changes ownership.

Separate from the FEMA mapping system, many of the real estate search engines are now using a Flood Factor rating system attached to all addresses. Flood Factor is a free online tool created by the nonprofit First Street Foundation that makes it easy for Americans to find their property’s risk of flooding. The Flood Factor rating doesn’t always match up to the current FEMA mapping, for instance, a property in Ocean City could be located in an X zone/Preferred zone, not requiring mortgage mandated flood insurance, however their Flood Factor risk rating could show as a 9 out of 10.

Lauren Bunting is a Broker with Keller Williams Realty of Delmarva in Ocean City, Maryland.

Go Back

Thank you so much for all of your hard work. We are so excited to move into the perfect house for us, and couldn't have done it without your guidance.

Megan and Brandon Cater

My friend was right, you are the hardest working realtor, bar none. I honestly don't think that I would have gotten through this house selling process without you.

Brenda Burbage

Lauren made first time homebuying extremely approachable, and took the time to educate me on everything involved in the process.

Amanda Hanke and Keri Swigert

Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication that made this purchase possible. You advocate for your clients and I highly regard you for it. You made it possible for me and my family to achieve our goal of homeownership.

Tom Harutyunyan

Thank you so much for the very wonderful, professional job you did with selling our property. You will always be special to me.

Penny Carley

We want to say a sincere "Thank You" for all you've done for us! We know at times the road seemed never ending. Thank you for always staying positive even through our ups and downs of this process. We appreciate all you do!

Mike and Patty Locke

Lauren's extensive knowledge of the local real estate market proved to be invaluable during the purchase of our first home.

Allison Shockley and Patrick Molloy

Lauren is very easy to work with. She has helped me sell and buy homes in the area and has always been hard working and professional.

Jennifer K. Leggour

Lauren went through tremendous lengths to look out for us every step of the way all the way to the very end. If you are in need of a real estate agent who will treat your transaction as if it were their own and provide you with nothing less than A+ service you will be in good hands with Lauren.

Shireen and Mark Ambush

We were referred to Lauren by a good friend, and we couldn’t have been placed in better hands. Lauren went above and beyond in every way, throughout the entire process.

Liz Young

Lauren Bunting was our realtor when we recently sold two homes- one in Maryland and the other one in Delaware. To say we were very satisfied with all she did for us is an understatement!

Janet and Bruce Lathbury

MLS Disclaimer


Top
Contact Me
Realtor logo   Equal Housing Opportunity logo