Flood Zone Discrepancies
By David Dickinson
Many times we get questions about what to do when the Standard Flood Hazard Determination Form gives a different answer than the flood insurance agent. Maybe, both parties agree the property is in a Special Flood Hazard Area yet they have different specific zones. More often your flood vendor indicates the property is in a Special Flood Hazard Area and the insurance agent indicates it is not. What do you do now?
I believe the first step is to go back to your determination vendor. They work for you. The insurance agent does not. I posed this question to Doug Winkler at American Flood Research (AFR). Doug responded with the following:
If research is being done properly, your flood vendor should be able to provide you with a working map to show how a determination was made. They should be able to fax or email working maps in a pdf (Adobe) format for your review. It is nearly impossible to verbalize to a borrower how a determination was made, but a picture in these cases is in fact worth a thousand words. A working map should show the lot or parcel drawn in on the FIRM map with the location of the structure noted.
I then asked Doug his thoughts on how to choose a flood determination company. Doug wrote a great article that we featured in our April 2008 e-newsletter. I believe his article is unbiased and he doesn't even mention why he believes AFR is better then other flood vendors. I encourage you to read this article (if you haven't already) and then contact Doug if you have further questions. He has been a great help to us when we have flood insurance questions or need a different perspective. You can reach Doug at 800-847-1653, ext 108 or dwinkler@americanflood.com