The National Flood Insurance Program was mandated in 1974 by Congress in an effort to provide flood insurance coverage for people living in flood prone areas. The program grew so large so quickly that soon other insurance companies were allowed to write flood insurance as long as they had a strong financial rating; all flood carriers are regulated by FEMA guidelines. Since that time the flood program has been regulated by FEMA through the federal government and Coastal Insurance Agency has been one of the largest writers of flood insurance in the state of North Carolina through several different flood insurance carriers. Flood insurance is rated based on the flood zone your home is in , determined by the Flood Insurance Rate Maps, put in place for FEMA by the Army Corp of Engineers. These flood maps reflect the flood zone and the base flood elevation of any flooding in the past 100 years for that particular area. For a specific home on a specific lot in a special flood hazard area, an Elevation Certificate is required, completed by a licensed surveyor; this certificate provides the street address of the home, the community number, the map number, the flood zone, the base flood elevation, and the elevations of the home itself.
All this information comes together to provide a rating or cost for flood insurance for one year on one property. If your home is in a special flood hazard area and you acquire a home mortgage, or a home equity line of credit, you will be required by your bank to purchase flood insurance. However, if you do not have a mortgage or line of credit but your home is in close proximity to any body of water; i.e. ocean, river, lake, pond, tidal creek, drainage ditch or lowlying area; we highly recommend the flood policy as it is the only insurance policy that will reimburse you for damage to your home by rising water from the earth, overflow of rivers, lakes, ponds, ditches, tidal surge from the ocean, or backup of drainage systems from torrential rainfall. Statistics prove to us time and again that 30% of all flood damages occur in low risk areas for flooding...and anywhere it can rain, it can also flood!
