Flood Insurance Preferred Risk Policy Eligibility Extension
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP) is urging Insurance Commissioners to notify insurance agents and consumers
about a new flood insurance option that will provide temporary financial relief
to property owners affected by recent flood map changes.
A Preferred Risk Policy, or PRP, is a low-cost flood insurance policy available
for residential and non-residential buildings and their contents based on preferred
rates for qualified structures in moderate- to low-risk areas. As of January 1,
2011 FEMA is extending the eligibility of the PRP for up to two years for buildings
newly designated within a high-risk flood area as shown on FEMA Flood Insurance
Rate Maps.
This new option is a result of map changes through FEMA's Flood Map Modernization
program (now Risk MAP), which uses more current data and the latest technology to
update flood maps. Prior to 2003, more than 70 percent of flood maps were at least
10 years old and were developed using what is now outdated technology. Consequently,
many of these maps no longer reflected current flood hazards. While these new map
changes more accurately reflect a community's flood risk, FEMA recognizes the financial
hardship that being newly mapped into a high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA)
may place on individual. Therefore, FEMA is extending the eligibility for low-cost
PRPs.
Properties eligible for the two-year reduced rate through the PRP extension include:
- Buildings that were newly mapped into an SFHA due to a map revision effective on
or after October 1, 2008, and before January 1, 2011. Property owners affected by
these previous map revisions are eligible for the PRP for the two policy years effective
between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2012.
- Buildings that will be newly mapped into an SFHA due to a map revision on or after
January 1, 2011 are eligible for the PRP for two years following the effective date
of the map revision.
For additional information:
These materials are also available at www.Agents.FloodSmart.gov
and www.FloodSmart.gov/PRPExtension