Last year the City of New Bern was accepted into the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) and reductions became effective on most issued or renewed policies on April 1, 2022.
According to Colleen Roberts, the City’s Public Information Officer, “This achievement means the City has taken proactive measures to exceed national minimum standards for community floodplain management. The City’s Class 8 rating translates into a 10% reduction in flood insurance premiums for eligible policyholders. Property owners are encouraged to contact their flood insurance provider for savings eligibility. Inclusion in the CRS is a significant step toward improving community resiliency and aligns with the City’s recent development of a Resiliency & Hazard Mitigation Plan.”
The release — New Rating Means You Could Save Money on Flood Insurance Premiums, published on December 1, 2021, details the specifics of the program, “The CRS program assigns a class rating to cities, towns and counties who apply based on their level of floodplain management activity. Classes are rated from a 10 to a 1, with 1 being the highest. The City of New Bern has been assigned a Class 8 rating. According to FEMA, most communities enter the program at a class rating of 9 or 8. As the community engages in additional mitigation activities, its residents become eligible for increased NFIP policy premium discounts. Each class improvement produces a 5% greater discount on flood insurance premiums for properties in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). In total, due to New Bern’s Class 8 rating, policyholders will see a 10% discount on their flood insurance premiums…”.
Information provided by Colleen Roberts.
By Wendy Card, Editor-in-Chief