FEMA’s web site contains a list of frequently asked questions that addresses many common questions about the NFIP and questions about mapping.FEMA’s booklet, Answers to Questions about the National Flood Insurance Program, is also a good source to help answer questions about the NFIP.

The staff at OEP is available to answer more specific questions about the NFIP and floodplain management in New Hampshire. Please call or e-mail us. Below are some of most common questions asked about the NFIP.

• Who may purchase a flood insurance policy?
  NFIP coverage is available to all owners of insurable property (a building and/or its contents) in a community participating in the NFIP.

• Why is my lender requiring flood insurance?
  For virtually every mortgage transaction involving a structure in the United States, the lender reviews the current NFIP maps for the community in which the property is located to determine its location relative to the published Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA), which are the areas with a one percent annual chance of flooding. SFHA are also referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood. If the lender determines that the structure is indeed located within the SFHA and the community is participating in the NFIP, the borrower is then notified that flood insurance will be required as a condition of receiving the loan. A similar review and notification is completed whenever a loan is sold on the secondary loan market or perhaps when the lender completes a routine review of its mortgage portfolio. This fulfills the lender’s obligation under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 and the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 that requires the purchase of flood insurance by property owners who are being assisted by Federal programs or by Federally regulated institutions in the acquisition or improvement of land, or facilities, or structures located or to be located within the SFHA.

• What if I disagree with my lender’s determination that I am in a flood zone?
  Property owners may not contest the requirement if the lending institution has established the requirements as a part of its own standard lending practices. However, if a lending institution is requiring the insurance to meet mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements, the property owner should ask the lending institution if they will accept a Letter of Map Change (LOMC) from FEMA to waive the flood insurance requirement. If they agree, the property owner will need to complete and submit to FEMA one of the applicable LOMC forms (MT-EZ, MT-1, and MT-2), which requires the property owner to prove, with the assistance of professional engineer or registered surveyor, that their home or property has incorrectly been included in the Special Flood Hazard Area.

• What must a community do to participate in NFIP? Is there a fee involved?
  To join the Program, the community must adopt at least the minimum NFIP regulations for floodplain development. For more information about what a community must do to join, please go to Joining the NFIP.
  
  There is no fee required for a community to join or to be involved in the Program. The only cost to the community is whatever cost is involved for the community to comply and enforce the NFIP regulations.

• What happens if a community does not join or is suspended from the NFIP?
  The following sanctions apply to communities that are identified as flood-prone by FEMA and do not participate in the Program:
  • Property owners will not be able to purchase NFIP flood insurance policies and existing policies will not be renewed.
  • Federal grants or loans for development will not be available in identified flood hazard areas under programs administered by Federal agencies such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, and Small Business Administration.
  • Federal disaster assistance for flood damage will not be provided to repair insurable buildings located in identified flood hazard areas.
  • Federal mortgage insurance or loan guarantees, such as those written by the Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Veteran Affairs, will not be provided in identified flood hazard areas.
  • Federally insured or regulated lending institutions, such as banks and credit unions, are allowed to make conventional loans for insurable buildings in flood hazard areas of non-participating communities. However, the lender must notify applicants that the property is in a flood hazard area and that the property is not eligible for Federal disaster assistance. Some of these lenders voluntarily choose not to make these loans.