Some South LA homeowners forced to carry pricey flood insurance they don't feel they need
A handful of South Los Angeles homeowners said they are stuck paying for pricey flood insurance that they don't think they need, and they're now asking why they're forced to pay for the coverage when many of their neighbors are not.
"I thought in my head this has to be a mistake," said homeowner Leslie Goodwin.
For the past three years, Goodwin has paid for flood insurance on her South LA home.
"I'm not in the mountains. I am not at the coastline. I am not in the canyons. This is the middle of the city."
Goodwin's home, along with several others, is classified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as having a 1% chance of flooding each year.
"It's just this little blue square and you can even zoom in and it's literally six to seven houses," Goodwin said of FEMA's map.
The surrounding zone has a 0.2% annual risk of flooding. So, those homes don't have to carry flood insurance.
"I actually contacted FEMA and I actually contacted the City of Los Angeles Building and Safety to try to find out what was the cause, and I am sure this will come as a major shock to you, nobody could tell me," said Karl Susman, with Susman Insurance Agency.
According to FEMA, the small area where Goodwin's home sits is in a topical depression.
Longtime resident Danny Davis lives three doors down from Goodwin. His home also sits in the topical depression.
"La Nina came through a couple times. The street was, you know, pretty full, but it never came over the curb," he said.
Goodwin's premium for flood insurance just jumped to nearly $1,000 for the year, while Davis pays $700. Neither of the homeowners can stop paying for the flood insurance because their lender requires it, based on the FEMA map.
However, Susman said homeowners can shop around or lower their coverage.
"If they're in an area and they really feel, like, 'You know what, I would not carry this type of coverage. I'm literally doing it specifically because my lender's mandating it,' then what they can do is get a dwelling-only policy."
Over the past year, FEMA introduced a new way of calculating flood risk and premiums. Susman said some homeowners could see their premiums go down. So far, that hasn't happened for Goodwin.
