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Flood Insurance is required to secure financing, from a federally regulated or federally insured lender, to buy, build, or improve structures in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA's).

• If your property is higher than the Base Flood Elevation, then you may request a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or a Letter of Map Revision (LOM-R) by submitting an elevation certificate to FEMA. If the re-designation is granted, your lender may choose not to require Flood Insurance.
• If you were required to get insurance by a lender and then your property is re-designated by FEMA, you may request a refund of the premium paid for flood insurance coverage.  Conversely, flood insurance may be required if your property is reclassified as a SFHA.
• Regardless of map changes, lenders do not have to waive flood insurance requirements and may decide that flood insurance coverage is still required as a condition of the mortgage or other financing.

Community associations throughout the State have been approached by companies that study the topography and/or other features of their development in order to prepare data for use by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to determine whether the community's flood hazard assessment is correct. As a direct result of these efforts, several communities have been reclassified from Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) into areas of "moderate" or "minimal" flood risk. Some Boards engaged these services with the goal of eliminating the cost of flood insurance from the association's annual budget.

CBS4 (Miami) recently ran a story about the FEMA mapping system. It found that the National Flood Insurance Program became $18.7 billion dollars in debt after hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.  The television report indicated that FEMA executives intend to pay off some of this debt by changing flood maps and increasing the number of properties that require insurance.  Miami-Dade maps were just released and revised Broward maps are due out next year.

Community association boards should discuss these requirements, and their options, with both counsel and insurance advisers.  According to statistics published by FEMA, up to 25% of flood losses happen outside of special flood zones.  Dropping master coverage may impact individual owners if their lenders require coverage. In the long run it may, in fact, cost each owner more without the master policy.

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 Did you know you can potentially collect full policy limits from both your flood and property insurance policies?  Do you know how?

According to the National Flood Insurance Program, flood is the most common disaster in the United States.  On average flood claims stem from more than thirty thousand ($30,000) worth of damages.

Did you know that almost 25% of flood insurance claims come from moderate to low risk areas?

Floods do not discriminate.  They can and do happen all over the country.  Flood damages may be due to a heavy rainstorm or hurricane, melting snow, plumbing malfunctions, levee or dam failures and rising bodies of water.  Even new development can cause floods due to a change in the drainage patterns of adjacent properties.   

Becker & Poliakoff's Disaster Claims Recovery Team is in place to help you prepare for the consequences of a flood in your community. Answers to important questions will be provided in this live web event:

• What exactly does flood insurance cover?
• Who needs it?
• Are community associations required to carry it? 

Join moderator Ken Direktor, Esq. of Becker & Poliakoff ( Ft. Lauderdale ), and Greg Marler, Esq. of Becker & Poliakoff ( Naples ), who will present with guest speaker Tammy LoVecchio, AAI of Gulfshore Insurance for this Free Webinar Flood Insurance: What You Should Know to Protect Your Community.

Register below and you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to participate.

Live Webinar on Thursday, August 19, 2010
10:00 AM-11:00 AM EDT (9:00 AM-10:00 AM CDT)

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On March 2, 2010, Congress passed and the President signed H.R. 4691, which extended the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through March 28, 2010.  Homeowners (including community associations) who have current flood insurance policies still have coverage; but NFIP cannot issue new policies, increase coverage on existing policies or issue renewal policies.  Since the extension expired, please refer to the NFIP guide titled “Recommendations/Guidance for Possible NFIP Authority Lapse and Hiatus”.  FEMA has advised that "any hiatus period should be brief and most of the nearly 5.6 million flood insurance policyholders nationwide will not be affected".

Congress is scheduled to reconsider H.R. 4851 entitled the "Continuing Extension Act of 2010", which extends several governmental programs, on April 12, 2010. Once Congress authorizes the NFIP program again, it’s expected to make it retroactive.  However, the hiatus may slow down or delay closings that were scheduled to take place in early April.

Since flooding can often lead to mold if not addressed immediately, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publishes helpful information including mold clean-up guidelines. 

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