Keeping your Home Cool

In a few weeks it will be time again to turn on your air conditioning — if you haven’t already.

Consider installing a programmable thermostat, so the temperature is most comfortable when someone’s home rather than cooling an empty house. Step-by-step instructions for installing a programmable thermostat are posted on ConsumerReports.org, and a how-to video is posted on ThisOldHouse.com.
As the temperature rises outside, does your home keep the hot air out and the cool air in? Check to be sure your windows and doors are well sealed to help keep the AC inside. Most local utility companies offer free home energy assessments and recommendations for making your home more energy efficient, and lowering your electric bill.
Shared from Tower Hill Insurance Group
www.lehnandvogt.com

You Know You're a Floridian When... | Florida Is My Home Blog

You Know You're a Floridian When... | Florida Is My Home Blog

NEW SARASOTA COUNTY FLOOD MAPS

By this time next year thousands of homes in Sarasota County will be moved into high risk flood zones.  Whether we agree or disagree with the new FEMA ruling it wont stop the inevitable.
What can you as a realtor do to help educate new home buyers?

All of Florida is in a Flood Zone.   Flood hazard areas identified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map are identified as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). SFHA are defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The 1-percent annual chance flood is also referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood. SFHAs are labeled as Zone A, AO, AE, V, and  VE.  Homes in these zones with mortgages are required to have flood insurance.

 Moderate flood hazard areas, labeled Zone B or Zone X (shaded) are also shown on the FIRM, and are the areas between the limits of the base flood and the 0.2-percent-annual-chance (or 500-year) flood. The areas of minimal flood hazard, which are the areas outside the SFHA and higher than the elevation of the 0.2-percent-annual-chance flood, are labeled Zone C or Zone X (unshaded). Homes in these low to moderate risk areas with mortgages are not required to purchase flood insurance.  Although flood insurance is available at a reduced price.


Just because a portion of a property is in the new flood high risk zone does not necessarily mean it will require flood insurance. Per FEMA rules if the flood zone does not actual touch the home it is not in the flood zone. Thousands of so called affected properties in Sarasota County that are being moved into the zone are actually in two zones.  Low risk and high risk.  If you follow the link for the New Sarasota Maps
(https://ags2.scgov.net/sarcoflood/) you will notice most of the new zones follow creeks, lakes and drainage ditches. Most properties do have a shaded green area touching the actual land mass but not the home.

What does a property owner do if the bank  is requiring flood insurance?
Borrowers who have reason to dispute the flood hazard determination presented by a lender may request, jointly with the lender, that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) review that determination. FEMA will make its determination within 45 days of receipt of all necessary data. If the request for review is related to a loan and the loan closing occurs before the end of the 45-day response time, the purchase of flood insurance is required. If it is determined through the review process that the structure is not located in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), and if the lender waives the flood insurance purchase requirement, a full premium refund can be obtained if no claim on the policy has been made.

The Flood Hazard Determination Review process does not consider the elevation of the structure above the flood level. It considers only the location of the structure relative to the SFHA shown on the effective Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).
Information on how to submit a request is found below.

If you have questions about whether or not a home will require flood insurance or the cost please email matt@lehnandvogt.com

Lehn & Vogt Insurance
2980 S McCall Rd
Englewood, FL 34224

FEMA Flood Rate Increase/Secondary Home Surcharge

 

New flood insurance premiums to rise higher than expected

 When their policies renew on or after April 1, homeowners with federal flood insurance will begin paying new fees and rates that are higher than some coastal advocates expected.

Come April 1, the National Flood Insurance Program will implement reforms required by the Homeowners Flood Insurance Affordability Act, which Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed into law in March 2014.

The act repealed or modified some aspects of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, which eliminated flood insurance subsidies for homes built before flood maps, causing premiums to soar for many homeowners. While Biggert-Waters allowed rates to increase as much as 25 percent annually, the affordability act capped the increase to between 15 and 18 percent for most policies.

As part of that law, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will issue updated flood insurance rates and other charges for new and existing policies beginning April 1.

FEMA detailed the changes in a bulletin released last fall.

That cap includes the Reserve Fund Fee, which Biggert-Waters created as a way to cover premium shortfalls. Calculated as a percentage of the total premium cost, the Reserve Fund Fee assessment will increase 10 percent for most policies.

But when the Federal Policy Fee and the affordability act surcharge are factored in, policies could jump substantially more. Mandatory insurance premiums for properties in the high-risk AE zone, for example, could grow as much as 23 percent with the fees.

The surcharge for primary homes will be $25; for secondary and multifamily homes and businesses, the surcharge is $250..

The new law is a tradeoff, as it will help make the program financially sound while easing the impact on older homes that have suffered severe flood losses – known as pre-FIRM Severe Repetitive Loss properties.

Renewals will be subject to a 25 percent renewal cap as well as a higher affordability act surcharge of $250.  Premiums will surely increase for pre-FIRM SRL renewals, but they won’t lose grandfathering or subsidized rates.

 Lehn & Vogt Insurance  

2980 S McCall RD Suite E
Englewood, FL 34224
www.lehnandvogt.com

Florida Home Safety: Burglar-Proof Your Garage

Florida Home Safety: Burglar-Proof Your Garage

As scary as this scenario sounds, it’s not the most common way thieves enter a homeowner’s garage. Usually, they simply walk in – albeit uninvited – to an unlocked or raised garage door. Consider these nine simple tips to help prevent intruders from entering your garage and home:

1. Do not leave your garage door open, even if you are home.
2. Install motion sensor lights above your garage door.
3. Lock the entry door between the garage and your home.
4. If you will be away for a few days, unplug an automatic garage door to make it more difficult for a thief to enter.
5. Frost or block garage windows.
6. Consider installing an automatic system that will close a garage door that has inadvertently been left open for a period of time.
7. Install a peephole in the door between your house and garage in order to see what’s going on if you hear a strange noise, rather than having to open the door to investigate.
8. Keep your car doors locked, even in the garage. Take your garage door opener in the house with you, or lock it in the glove compartment of your car.
9. Secure any valuables kept in your garage and try to keep them out of sight when the door is open.

www.lehnandvogt.com
Lehn & Vogt Insurance
2980 S McCall Rd
Suite E
Englewood, FL 34224

Sinkhole Insurance Vs Catastrophic Ground Cover Collapse

Florida homeowner insurance restricts us from several coverage features.  One that can be quite confusing to several homeowners is the difference between  "Sinkhole" and "Catastrophic Ground Collapse". 
 Most homeowners polices in Florida exclude coverage for "sinkhole activity" however they provide you with the opportunity to request and endorse your policy to include such coverage for additional premium.   
 However, All Florida homeowners policies do include coverage for "catastrophic ground collapse" which is defined below: 
Catastrophic ground cover collapse” is defined as “geological activity that results in all of the following:
 
 1). The abrupt collapse of the ground cover;  
 2). A depression in the ground cover clearly visible to the naked eye;  
 3). Structural damage to the building including the foundation; and
 
 4). The insured structure being condemned and ordered to be vacated by the government agency authorized by law to issue such an order for that structure.” 
This means that if your home is damaged by sinkhole activity, but does not meet all four criteria for catastrophic ground cover collapse – for instance, you may have foundation cracks, but the home is still livable – your insurance may not pay for the damage if you do not have sinkhole coverage  
 If you wish to request to include "sinkhole activity" you must contact your agent and/or insurance company to request a sinkhole inspection usually with in 45 days of the effective date.  There is a small fee for this inspection, typically less than $225.00 and the insurance company will usually split the cost.  However there is not a guarantee that coverage will be extended. You must receive a favorable inspection.                       
 
 

Do you have enough Life Insurance?

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