Flood coverage costs soar for storm survivors across N.Y., N.J.

MILFORD, N.J. — Sunday marks three years since Hurricane Ida. The remnants of the storm blindsided officials in the Tri-State Area with destructive, deadly floods.
Now, some survivors tell investigative reporter Mahsa Saeidi they face a new challenge:  their insurance is soaring.
On Sept. 1, 2021, water started entering Leanna Jones’ home in Milford, New Jersey. She and her children eventually had to be rescued from the flood.
Three years later, she tells CBS News New York she now feels like she’s underwater. The problem is her insurance.
“It’s just not affordable, like I can’t, I can’t afford it,” she said.
The headache started after Ida. Jones returned to find her appliances broken and everything covered in mud.
According to an inspection report, parts of her home were damaged, too. The basement foundation is now leaking more and there are cracks in the porch wall. Jones said the insurance money wasn’t enough.
“I have the structural report that says the damage to this was caused by the flood but that, sorry we don’t cover it because porches aren’t covered,” she said.
Jones took out a federal disaster loan that’s now due. That’s on top of two insurance bills.
CBS News New York found since the hurricane, her homeowners’ policy has spiked 55%. An even bigger expense is her flood policy, up 57%.
“This was supposed to be my dream home,” Jones said.
Jones had flood coverage through a private company, but the Insurance Information Institute says, most homeowners, 7 out of 10, get it through the federally backed National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP.
“I have no other choice, NFIP is my only option,” said Jones’ neighbor, Michelle Belding.
The mother of five was also battered by Ida.
“The floor buckled like an accordion,” she said.
Belding says the insurance claim took over her life. Since then, her NFIP policy has increased 47%.
“And it doesn’t cover personal contents nor rental,” Belding said. “And this, this could go up next year and for what?”
As life slowly gets back to normal, Belding questions the value of insurance. She had full coverage, but she says Ida still cost her thousands.
“It changes your entire life, and this was only two feet [of flooding],” she said.
There was a time when she loved the creek behind her house and life on aptly named Water Street, but not anymore.
“I come out and I’m like eh. You know, overrated,” Belding said.
Senior analyst at AM Best Sridhar Manyem rates the financial strength of insurers.
He says in 2022, the NFIP changed how it priced policies. Before it was a one-size-fits-all approach, and now he says, it’s more fair. Rates are based on the individual property, meaning the higher the risk, the higher the premium.
“The kind of structure you have, the distance from the water,” Manyem said.
According to federal data CBS News New York analyzed, in New Jersey, on average, folks are paying $953 a year for flood insurance. It’s a similar rate in New York at $943. This is the median current cost of insurance.
But the NFIP says under its new pricing structure, in both states, on average, they should be paying twice that – $1,943 in New Jersey and $1,834 in New York. That is the median risk-based cost of insurance, a more germane measurement, according to the NFIP.
That means if you live close to the water, expect a rate hike, but not all at once.
“There’s a cap on how much the increase is going to be,” Manyem said.
 The increase and severity of weather events has wreaked havoc on property insurance carriers in many states, but so far, the Tri-State has been spared. The only exception is in 2021 when carriers in New Jersey almost lost money.
That’s because Ida was not just a flood event that impacted flood carriers, but also a wind event that impacted homeowners’ insurance carriers.
If homeowners want to try to bring down their rates, they can make changes to their home – such as raising their air conditioning unit to protect it from water – or changes to their policy, like increasing the deductible.