National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and Community Rating System (CRS)
The U.S. Congress established the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) with the passage of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is a Federal program enabling property owners in participating communities to purchase insurance as a protection against flood losses in exchange for State and community floodplain management regulations that reduce future flood damages.
The NFIP Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements. In exchange for a community’s proactive efforts to reduce flood risk, policyholders can receive reduced flood insurance premiums for buildings in the community.
The Town of Redington Beach participates in the NFIP, making federally backed flood insurance available to you. The Town also participates in the CRS, which provides you with a discount on your flood insurance premium.
Flood Insurance Discount
The Town of Redington Beach participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Community Rating System (CRS) and currently has a rating of 7 with 10 being the lowest and 1 being the highest rating. Each rating below 10 gains property owners in Redington Beach a 5% reduction in their flood insurance premiums. Since Redington Beach is currently rated at 7, we enjoy a 15% reduction. If you haven’t already done so, you need to advise your insurance agent that Redington Beach has a NFIP/CRS rating of 7 at this time, so you receive the proper discount. Insurance writers should know this now, but it is best to check. Remember normal homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage. Also you must have flood insurance to participate in some grant programs.
Find a Flood Insurance Agent
Flood insurance protects your home. But, before you protect your home, you’ll need to find an agent who lives near it. Visit floodsmart.gov to locate an agent near you.
Get Flood Insurance for Your Home, Business, or Rental.
You are not covered for flood damage under your homeowner’s or tenant’s insurance, these policies specifically exclude flooding. The entire town is prone to flooding, so you should consider getting flood insurance.
Flood insurance covers you for damage to your home, business and contents due to surface accumulation of water from inland or tidal flooding and erosion due to flooding.
Don’t assume that you’re safe from flooding just because you live on the third floor of your condo building. If a severe flood wipes out the ground floor of your building, all of the other units in the building (including your own) may become uninhabitable as well.
Flood insurance rates are calculated based on a variety of factors, including FEMA flood zone , structure elevation, and building construction. Policies can be purchased for contents only, building only, or both contents and building coverage. Getting an Elevation Certificate will help agents properly rate your policy.
Flood insurance has a 30 day wait period before coverage starts, so you will not be insured if you wait until a flood forecast to take out your policy.
Get an Elevation Certificate for an Accurate Rating
An Elevation Certificate (EC) is an administrative tool of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) used to provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with community floodplain management ordinances and to determine the proper insurance premium rate.
If an Elevation Certificate has been prepared for your property and it was submitted to the Town, you can get a copy by clicking here or contacting the Town at (727) 391-3875.