The state's congressional delegation is urging House and Senate leaders on Capitol Hill to fix a federal law they say could result in "devastating" increases to flood insurance premiums, while the state attorney general is vowing to explore every option to block those rate hikes.
A letter yesterday, signed by all 10 Bay State congressmen, asks for an affordability study mandated by the Biggert-Waters National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, which was designed to keep the National Flood Insurance program solvent.
The delegation also is asking for premium increases to be delayed for small businesses and homeowners so that the Federal Emergency Management Agency can use that study's recommendations as FEMA adopts new flood zone maps.
"I want an affordability fix, not simply an affordability study about impacts of new flood maps," U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey, who organized the letter, said in a statement. "The fear of rising flood waters should not be compounded by the fear of an unaffordable spike in insurance premiums. We need immediate action to ensure that business and homeowners who cannot afford these potential increases are helped."
The letter came as state Attorney General Martha Coakley vowed to explore every legal avenue to stop exorbitant premiums, including going to court.
"If we can, we will," Coakley said. "We're going to try to move on as many fronts as possible."
The lawmakers also want FEMA to improve its outreach to inform homeowners how the new maps will affect them, and to change its appeals process.
The rate hikes go into effect next Tuesday and FEMA has been rolling out the new flood zone maps and meeting with local officials as the law phases in this year, but the changes have caught many homeowners off guard.
Before Chase White and his wife bought their Scituate home in July, he checked FEMA's website and made sure it wasn't in a high-risk flood zone. But they decided to buy flood insurance anyway because it was only $350 per year. Now, according to FEMA's redrawn maps, their house is at greater risk of a flood, and they expect their insurance to soar to $5,500.
"I feel duped," said White, 33. "We wouldn't have bought the house if we'd known this would happen."
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