City staff have been working diligently toward the restoration of our Community Rating System classification, and with it our flood insurance discount. They recently provided an update on their progress. As shown below all of the required activities are proceeding on schedule and according to plan.
Effective April 1 we’ll be reclassified to a 9, resulting in a partial discount of 5% for flood policies that come up for renewal after that time. The Insurance Services Office, which verifies the implementation of qualifying activities credited by the CRS, has confirmed all Class 9 prerequisites have been satisfied. Beyond that we’re on track to achieve our prior classification of 7, with the full 15% discount, effective October 1. So that’s all good news.
Of course our being downgraded should have never happened in the first place, and so in addition to bringing us back into compliance as a CRS participant, staff are making process improvements to avoid similar missteps in the future. This checklist is not a one-time thing, but is to be maintained on an ongoing basis. Incorporating these items into routine workflows, such as records management and data collection, will help staff to better keep up with the reporting requirements and any other potential issues that could affect our status.
Also, and wholly independent of the foregoing, Bellaire property owners should be aware that FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 goes into effect this year. Renewal premiums will be changing with the application of this new rating methodology, to more accurately reflect each individual property’s unique flood risk. This has nothing at all to do with the City’s CRS classification. Based on data obtained from FEMA, 49% of Bellaire policyholders will see their premiums increase by $10 or less per month, and 28% by $20 or less:
To put that in perspective, under the former rating methodology (prior to Risk Rating 2.0) renewal premiums typically increased $8 per month on average.
While these Risk Rating 2.0 premium adjustments are beyond our control, we’ll pass along any additional information as it becomes available. Completing the above-listed activities to restore our CRS classification and flood insurance discount is the City’s responsibility, and we’ll continue to keep you updated on our progress. Questions or comments? Please contact the Bellaire CRS team by e-mail at bellairecrs@bellairetx.gov.
