US curbs flood premium increases for 2014

 US curbs flood premium increases for 2014

Moves to match US flood cover pricing to risk have hit a setback, with the Senate passing legislation to curb premium rises under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Premiums in some flood-prone areas soared under the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, when insurance under the NFIP began to be priced to risk. Property values fell and there were fears insurance costs could choke economic development in areas such as Louisiana and Florida. The new Homeowner Insurance Affordability Act sets ceilings on premium increases. It restores “grandfathering” of policies in areas with new flood maps and reinstates subsidies for some properties that are bought and sold. The Biggert-Waters Act was intended to address the NFIP debt and discourage development in flood-prone areas. The Property and Casualty Insurers Association of America has praised the new legislation for addressing “unintended consequences” of the Biggert-Waters Act.

News Source :  www.insurancenews.com.au

Waves of problems for Flood Insurance

Waves of problems for Flood Insurance 

Flood Insurance Waves of problems New proposals to reform subsidised flood insurance do too little to reduce risk Mar 8th 2014 | CHERTSEY | From the print edition Timekeeper The beauty of risk pooling AT FIRST glance, Foxglove Mead in Chertsey looks like any other housing estate being built in Britain. As many as 98 homes, some worth £600,000 ($1m), are planned. But step onto the show-home’s newly laid lawn, where your correspondent felt his feet sink into the waterlogged soil, and questions over the suitability of this site become clear: these buildings are in an area at high risk of flooding. Pools of water from floods that last month inundated nearby houses (see picture) still cover neighbouring meadows. Sadly, this is but one of many new residential developments going up on floodplains and tide-swept coasts around the world: 21% of new homes built in London since 2010 are in high-risk areas. Instead of discouraging the building of flood-prone houses, governments are unwittingly encouraging homeowners to flush money down the drain. In this section Injured island Revolutionary fervour The times they aren’t a-changin’ Not so sunny Waves of problems Bank, fix thyself In a fix,