I had another one of those defining service moments the other - TopicsExpress



          

I had another one of those defining service moments the other evening. As of October 1st, FEMA requires that an elevation certificate be provided before any new flood insurance policy can be issued for a home. My clients lender and I have been trying to help them get that insurance since Sept. 28th - before the new rules came in. My buyer has a long-term positive relationship with an insurer through her investment advisors, so thats who she wanted to use. What a nightmare! Id been told that it was easy to assume the previous owners policy (it is not always easy at all), Id been told that most cities keep elevation records (San Jose does not, nor I believe does Palo Alto), and after exhausting these options Id been told that the buyers would have to pay a surveyor to survey the property at a cost of ...who knows...a lot, ($2k maybe) and at a time cost of possibly a couple of weeks. Remember, weve been trying to get this done for 2 weeks now...time is running out. My clients belongings are already loaded on a truck, and fumigation is scheduled! This afternoon (on the way back from a fruitless visit to San Jose City Hall) I called David Flaig of Farmers Insurance. He told me about a provisional policy which would give my clients 12 months grace period to sort out the elevation question - no more waiting on a surveyor and delaying close. Whats more, he found that the amount of flood insurance was not going to be $2k+ per year,as we had been led to believe. Its $489. Unbelievable. My clients original insurer knew nothing of this, and wed talked to both the original insurance agent, plus to her supervisor. David says it is very simple, but many insurance agents dont bother to keep up with upcoming changes, and are then caught out when they have to deal with it. 2hrs later, my clients have flood insurance arranged, and will close escrow on time. What agent could hope for more? So, if you get stuck with this, and you need a fabulous insurance person to help sort through it (you do), call David on 650-931-8630 (youll be glad you did).
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 05:24:54 +0000

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