Archive for the ‘Flood Insurance’ Category
You are currently browsing the archives for the Flood Insurance category.
10
Jan
2011
Consumer Education on catastrophe risk… Are you taking preventative action?
Have you ever faced a disaster or known someone who has? Natural disasters are risks to your everyday life. They can happen fast and suddenly and most people are not prepared. The Griffith Insurance Education Foundation urges for more consumer education and long-term plans for catastrophe risks. There is more than 50% of the country’s population living in coastal regions. Coastal states such as California, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi are all prone to disasters especially fierce storms, hurricanes, and earthquakes. The consensus is people are not prepared nor accurately educated about it. For example, according to RAND Institute for Civil Justice, “only about 12 percent of insured homeowners in California have earthquake insurance, which gives rise to concern about the large proportion of losses that will go uninsured in a large earthquake.”
Don Rebele, President and CEO of Griffith Foundation states, “Our goal is to help everyone, from property owners to policy makers, understand the problem so that they can all be part of the solution. Getting people to invest up-front to mitigate risk is our biggest challenge. Mitigation is key because it affects all other factors – the access of capital, the availability of private markets and risk-based rates.” Consumer education is valuable in understanding improvements to be made for the long-term. It requires homebuilders, industry regulators, you and me to invest in safer structural designs and to take preventative action.
Furthermore, there needs to be an increase effort to make catastrophe insurance more available and affordable. Ultimately, it comes down to your safety against the unexpected and uncontrollable. The importance of consumer education and awareness is to take preventative action to reduce physical and fiscal loss.
Take action today and feel free to contact us for help!
2
Apr
2010
Lapse in National Flood Insurance Program
It’s hard to believe the US Senate adjourned without extending the National Flood Insurance Program, which expired on March 28th. Apparently efforts to reach a bipartisan agreement between the House and Senate failed over a broader political debate on how to pay for the larger bill and the federal deficit. Did they realize that this indecision would wreak havoc in the real estate market? Thankfully as of March 30th three of the nation’s largest lending authorities have issued guidance to administer the federal flood insurance regulations during the current NFIP lapse in Authority……..allowing (in most cases) loan closings to still occur during this hiatus. A procedural motion has been filed in the Senate that will set up a vote the week of the 12th. Among other interests, it goes without saying that it the real estate world, both personal and professional, is hoping for a swift resolution to this lapse. Hopefully it’s all solved before the next recess. If you have any questions about coverage or how this might effect you, visit our Flood Insurance page.
