Your Flood Insurance Questions Answered

FEMA has introduced a new pricing methodology called Risk Rating 2.0 to update the National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) risk rating methodology. This methodology utilizes industry best practices and modern technology to provide actuarily sound and equitable rates that better reflect a property's flood risk and are easier to comprehend.

The Full Risk Premium (FRP) is the collective premium rate charged to a group of policies that covers anticipated losses and expenses.

We are the nation's leading engineering firm providing flood zone cost-saving solutions, uncovering millions of savings annually. Our team comprises various blended expertise in engineering, flood insurance, and real estate to identify solutions to help clients reduce costs and increase property value.

All scenarios start with a complimentary desktop review of the client's property. Typical solutions include opportunities for flood zone reclassification and solutions to improve the policy's rating, ultimately reducing flood insurance costs and creating value in either scenario.

Having your property reviewed via our proprietary audit process is free. As projects vary in scope, your account representative will discuss expected project costs. Like with all projects, solutions are 100% guaranteed; otherwise, no final invoice is issued.

We uncover a cost-saving solution in nearly 50% of cases reviewed nationwide. As solutions are recommended to move forward, we have a 99% success rate.

We operate in all 50 states, including the Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

No - As solutions are uncovered, all projects are guaranteed 100% successful.

A/V vs. X-zones

You can read more about Flood Zones here.

In most areas of the country, flood zones are only updated every 10-15 years.

We find unique solutions by combining the experience and engineering skills of our team with their expertise in flood insurance. This enables us to identify multiple solutions for our clients, thanks to our thorough understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship between the two.

Like in many scenarios in the past, the earlier we uncover a solution, the larger the ripple effect. During the acquisition process, flood zone solutions equal direct NOI growth that can be leveraged pre-closing in various ways, such as not having a flood insurance requirement at closing or negotiating higher loan proceeds.

A LOMA is a Letter of Map Amendment issued by FEMA that removes structures or defined Metes & Bounds of land from the 100-year flood zones; with this document, any flood zone determination from a lender will recognize these structures as part of the X-zone, and they will no longer be required to have flood insurance.

Federally-backed lenders must follow legal protocols set in place by the Flood Disaster Act of 1979, which stipulates that properties within the 100-year flood zone must have proof of flood insurance. However, once a property is designated as an X-zone through a LOMA, LOMR, or flood map update, lenders are equally obliged to drop the flood insurance mandate.

Typically a LOMA working with National Flood Experts is completed in 4-6 weeks. In some cases, expedited LOMA processing and approval can be in as fast as five business days. In terms of flood policy refunds, once the lender has updated their Flood Zone Determination Form, the cancellation/refund timeline with your broker should only be a few weeks.

There are no upfront costs to have your property reviewed by our team of experts to uncover what solutions may exist or any recommended next steps. The only upfront cost that may ever exist would be for fieldwork in the absence of building-specific elevation or topography data needed in the review nationwide.

In most cases, you can expect to have review results back from our team within 3-5 business days. We will then discuss the next steps with you.

By partnering with National Flood Experts, you gain a team that is committed to helping you maximize the value of your investment/property and can assist you at any point in the deal's lifecycle. Our team works with commercial flood insurance and real estate brokers to achieve the best outcome for all parties involved.

While National Flood Experts has in-house survey capabilities, we do not define ourselves as a survey company. Our primary focus is on consulting and providing cost-saving solutions for flood insurance. Our team doesn't just focus on collecting data, but also strives to find creative approaches that can assist clients in reducing their flood insurance expenses and increasing the value of their property investments.

It's common for buildings to lack elevation certificates, which are sometimes not transferred during the sale or lost over time. Our in-house field team enables us to efficiently gather the required data while keeping costs down for our clients. Survey work is just one part of the comprehensive solutions we provide.