Flooding of neighbors' homes is something that could happen at any time on Padre Island. While many neighbors have flooding insurance to protect their homes in case of emergency, some people are not happy with their flood insurance bills this year.
“My flood insurance went up about $360, which was close to 31% from the year before," Donald Hoy, a Padre Island neighbor, said.
Hoy is not alone in experiencing a sudden spike in his flood insurance rate. Neighborhood News Reporter Erin Holly spoke with Stephanie Hesch, the owner of the Blue Eagle Insurance Group on the island, to find out the reason behind the increases.
"So, FEMA and the National Flood Insurance program re-instituted, or changed, the way they're doing their rating system a couple years back," Stephanie Hesch, the Owner of Blue Eagle Insurance Group, said. “The cost difference in that space gets depreciated over time as this new discount on their insurance bill. So, they’ll see increases gradually each year over year now, of around 18 to 20 percent in their flood insurance bill to basically start depleting that discount that previously existed."
Every year, homeowners will gradually pay off the difference in price from their old flood insurance premium to their new one.
“I want to say last year we actually had a little bit of a reduction. But this year, yeah, they all went up. Just the insurances are just, they’re just, getting crazy out here," Hoy said.
While Hesch says it is not extremely common to see flood damage to homes on Padre Island, most neighbors are required to have flood insurance.
“I mean not just as you know, an insurance professional but also as a homeowner, I would generally recommend getting that coverage. I mean unless you have the ability where you can self insure," Hesch said.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
Catch all the KRIS 6 News stories and more on our YouTube page. Subscribe today!
