GEORGETOWN, SC (WBTW) – Georgetown County residents may now be eligible for an additional savings on flood insurance rates, thanks to measures recently taken by the county’s planning and building departments.
According to a press release, Georgetown County was recently notified that it improved to a Class 7 in the National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System. The county’s previous rating qualified residents a discount up to 10 percent on flood insurance, but the new rating could add as much as 5 percent to the existing discount in May 2017.
The Community Rating System is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum national requirements. It plays an important role in the underwriting process at insurance companies. Flood insurance premium rates may be discounted to reflect the reduced flood risk resulting from the community actions meeting the three goals of the rating system. Those goals are:
- To reduce flood damage to insurable property;
- To strengthen and support insurance aspects of the NFIP;
- And to encourage a comprehensive approach to floodplain management.
There were a number of changes to county regulations that went into achieving the lowered rating, said Planning Department Director Boyd Johnson. One of the most significant was a new regulation that added an additional foot to the federal minimum elevation requirements for new structures in flood zones.
Insurance companies will be automatically notified of the change in Georgetown County’s rating.Information above is from a press release
