FEMA Insurance Refund Quick Guide

At a meeting hosted by the City of Moorpark Thursday night, one of the key issues discussed was how to apply for a refund for premiums paid for flood insurance to cover properties that were removed from the FEMA flood maps in a recent revision.

FEMA representative Frank Mansell, a hazards program specialist for the agency, outlined what property owners must do in order to get the refund.

Here are the steps he recommended:

• Go to the city’s website and print out the Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) and a copy of the revised map.
• Make an appointment with your lender and bring the LOMA and map printouts.
• Request the lender write a letter*—with the institution’s letterhead—that indicates you are no longer required to carry the insurance.
• Take the lender’s letter to your insurance company so it can cancel the policy and you can get a refund.

*Mansell noted that most lending institutions are familiar with these types of letters, but they are welcome to contact FEMA for guidance. He said also the procedure is outlined in FEMA publication F083, Mandatory Purchase of Flood Insurance Guidelines.

Mansell did warn that there are two general exceptions for refund eligibility. One is for those who purchased a discounted, low-risk policy and the other is for those who have a bank force-placed policy (which a lending institution may have forced a property owner to buy if the owners ignored the bank’s request to purchase it on their own).

Click to read a full report of the meeting.