Posted On: March 27, 2007, 3:54 pm CDT

Posted By: don Hester

secondary home owners continue to be treated as second class citizens. They cant buy replacement cost coverage while primary home ownrrs can. Rational? They must be wealthy so they can afford a second home and depreciated loss. The loss experience for those in a riverine flood plain who have been milking the program for years is miserable.Are they still exempting those home owners who build/rebuild below sea level behind federal levees from having to have a flood policy?It is aggravating thatt we all paid for levees but theyare exempt from having to buy flood insurance while charging seacoast dwellers for their riverine losses? does FEMA propose to eliminate the restriction they have of giving no grant money to pay off deductibles ? Home owners in the northeast are regularly being hit with 5% wind storm deductibles which will require very large out of pocket payouts. I believe in a democracy but I sure am tired of not getting the same treatment as others in higher flood prone areas! The loss ratios of the NE seacoast areas keep subsidizing the gulf and riverine areas. Insurance means spreading the risk,not transferring it to the wealthier who "can afford it more" The so called subsidy in many cases is for people who had the foresite to buy flood insurance when it first came out and have the zone change. I question if they should loose their grandfathered rates although I can see justification upon sale of the property to not allow passing the grandfathering onto new purchasers. many of the early flood purchasers who started when the program began are reaching retirement age and removing "subsidies" may backfire and cause them to drop coverage instead.
I wish that replacement cost was offered as an option for all.Actuarily the risk is the same ! I wish that law and ordinance protection was available on the first loss.Why do we need one claim before mitigation costs are covered? I wish that Fema paid their adjusters for their time and skill and not as a percentage of the amount of the claims settled amount. I wonder if those who tout the new laws considered that in their reform