Saturday, December 21, 2013

NJ DEP - NFIP Inconsistencies


FEMA representatives warned the public that the N.J. DEP rebuilding standards for flood damaged homes had multiple inconsistencies with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP ).

This could mean that homeowners who have spent thousands of dollars to elevate their homes will not receive credit for it when renewing flood insurance policies.

John Miller, legislative affairs coordinator with the N.J. Association for Flood Plain Management, warns that some building officials issuing permits may have instead trusted the DEP rules.  " A local official is going to say the DEP knows the flood code," he said.

If building permits that are issued by towns allow development that is inconsistent with the NFIP rules, FEMA could suspend towns from participating in the NFIP.  Suspension from the National Flood Insurance Program would mean homeowners in those towns could not renew federal flood insurance policies and could be barred from certain types of disaster aid.

More information and details at:

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/raising-homes-to-state-rules-may-fail-insurance-standards/article_239812a4-69da-11e3-b330-0019bb2963f4.html

UPDATE - The following article was referred to in one of the comments below.  It is about the National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System which gives homeowners discounts on their insurance policy premiums based on Municipal efforts to reduce flood damage.

The 61 participating communities saved a total of $17 million dollars of direct out of pocket costs for their residents.  Some examples, Ocean City saved $3million, Sea Isle City,$1.3 million, Upper Township, $160,000, City of Cape May, $614,000, Avalon, $1.2million, Long port $484,000, Margate, $1.9million,---------------Mullica Township, $0

Mullica residents did enjoy a discount on their flood insurance policies until the program's paper work was never filled out and returned.  Mullica was dropped from the program.

http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/regional/cape-may-county/47755-cape-and-atlantic-county-towns-recognized-for-flood-protection-improvements.html

 



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I lost my flood insurance discount because Sandman never filled out the program papers for the town.I hope he hasn't caused more damage by issuing incorrect permits.

Anonymous said...

I doubt that Sandman knows the NFIP rules, it's been shown in the past that he has problems with DEP standards alone.

Anonymous said...

To 6:02 pm
I just read an article a few days ago about all the towns that were getting awards and big discounts on their flood insurance through that program.
It's a shame the residents of Mullica lost their discounts.

moderator said...

To Anonymous poster at 9:32pm
J,please rewrite your comment without the C word, Thanks L

Anonymous said...

If I am reading this correctly,FEMA can deny flood insurance for a whole town. All homes in a flood zone that have a mortgage are required to have flood insurance. No insurance, no mortgage.
The towns will have to go back and correct any mistakes they made by following just NJ DEP laws.
Are the towns going to accept financial responsibility if a homeowner was issued a permit for a $70,000-$100,000 house raising that does not conform to NFIP rules?
This is a big can of worms.

moderator said...

To poster 9:37 pm

I found the article you referred to and linked it on the post. Thank you for the information.