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| Chase and Erin White’s recently purchased home in Scituate is located about a quarter-mile from the ocean. |
When Chase White and his wife, Erin, were looking into buying a new home in the South Shore coastal community of Scituate, they did their due diligence when it came to flood insurance.
"One of the first things I did was go to FEMA’s website and floodsmart.gov to dig into flood insurance concerns," White said.
His prospective house was about a quarter-mile from the ocean.
He found that his home was designated in a moderate flood hazard zone, according to the National Flood Insurance Program’s preferred risk policy.
"I felt confident and secure in purchasing our home because I knew that even if we did get remapped we’d be able to carry over our (preferred risk policy and rate)," he said.
Because his home was built well before the government got involved in floodplain regulation, his rates would be grandfathered into the federal flood insurance program’s subsidized rates – or so he thought.
To add to his comfort level, as a Scituate resident for 30-plus years, White said he knew the town had seen its share of storms, but even the worst storms did not flood his potential new property.
He passed papers in early July.
Two weeks after he purchased the home, White found out through a flyer distributed by the local beach association, that his home had been moved into a higher flood risk category.
"I then began hearing about the Biggert-Waters Act in the local newspaper and realized the storm I had found myself in," White said.
The Biggert-Waters Act was passed into law in 2012 to bring flood insurance rates, which historically have been subsidized by the federal government, more in line to calculated flood risk.
White purchased flood insurance when he bought the house at an annual rate of $358.
"We did it because it was so affordable, we figured ‘why not?’" White said.
After learning his home was in a new higher risk category, he did further research. He studied the preliminary rate tables and flood insurance manual extensively and determined his insurance premium is increasing by 15 times his current rate, from $358 a year to more than $5,500 a year (assuming a $1,000 deductible).
"It’s extremely tough to swallow for me as I felt that I had performed my due diligence in researching our home before purchasing it and I feel cheated," White said. "I felt that I was protected from this premium surge due to the legacy (National Flood Insurance Program) rules."
Welcome to the wonderful world of FEMA and laws that destroy communities.
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