ICC May Assist in Meeting Oregon Flood Codes
Release Date: January 5, 2008
Release Number: 1733-042
» More Information on Oregon Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides
SALEM, Ore. -- If a home or business was damaged by flooding during the severe storms, wind, mudslides, landslides and flooding of Dec. 1-17, the home or business owner may be required to meet certain community building requirements to reduce future flood damage before the home or business may be repaired or rebuilt.
To help cover the costs of meeting those requirements, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) managed National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) includes Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage for all new and renewed Standard Flood Insurance Policies.
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials have been impressed by the recovery efforts undertaken by Oregonians. "The people of this state just rolled up their sleeves, got right in there and started tearing out damage and fixing their houses," said FEMA's Glen R. Sachtleben, federal coordinating officer "For the first time in my experience, we actually had to send people out to ask the residents to slow down - they were at risk of missing out on ICC because they were moving too fast."
Flood insurance policyholders in high-risk areas, also known as special flood hazard areas, may qualify for up to $30,000 to help pay costs to bring their home or business into compliance with the community's floodplain ordinance. All communities in Oregon that have a FEMA flood hazard map participate in the NFIP.
There are four options to comply with a community's floodplain management ordinance and help reduce future flood damage. The home or building owner, in consultation with local permitting officials, may decide which of these options is best.
The four options are:
- Elevation. This raises your home or business to or above the flood elevation level adopted by your community.
- Relocation. This moves your home or business out of harm's way.
- Demolition. This tears down and removes flood-damaged buildings
- Flood proofing. This option is available primarily for non-residential buildings. It involves making a building watertight through a combination of adjustments or additions of features to the building that reduces the potential for flood damage.
There are two instances when a claim for ICC coverage may be filed:
- If a community determines a home or business is damaged by flood to the point repairs will cost 50 percent or more of the building's pre-damage market value. This is called substantial damage.
- If a community has a repetitive loss provision in its floodplain management ordinance and determines the home or business was damaged by a flood two times in the past 10 years, where the cost of repairing the flood damage, on the average, equaled or exceeded 25 percent of its market value at the time of each flood. This is called repetitive damage. Additionally, there must have been flood insurance claim payments for each of the two flood losses.
An ICC claim is adjusted separately from the original flood damage claim filed under a Standard Flood Insurance Policy. An ICC claim may be filed only if a community determines a home or business has been substantially damaged or repetitively damaged by flooding. This determination is made when application is made for a building permit from the local jurisdiction to begin repairing a home or business.
If your community does determine a home or business is substantially or repetitively damaged, a local official will explain the floodplain management ordinance provisions the home or business owner will be required to meet.
Once a community has made this determination, contact the insurance company or agent who wrote the flood policy to file an ICC claim. The insurer will assign a claims representative who will help process the ICC claim.
The home or business owner should begin obtaining estimates from contractors of the cost to take the necessary steps to elevate, relocate, flood proof, or demolish the home or business.
A home or business owner may be able to receive a partial payment once the claims representative has a copy of the signed contract for the work, a permit from the community to do the work, and the signed ICC Proof of Loss. If work is not completed, any partial payment from your insurer must be repaid.
When the work is completed, local officials will inspect and issue a certificate of occupancy or a confirmation letter. Once you submit this document to your claims representative, your insurer will pay the final installment or full payment.
ICC claims will only be paid on flood-damaged homes and businesses, and can only be used to pay for costs of meeting the floodplain management ordinance in your community.
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
Last Modified: Monday, 07-Jan-2008 09:04:50