Risk Rating 2.0 Calculator
The Risk Rating 2.0 Calculator works with the geographic rates listed in some SprinklesTM premium estimate maps. Geographic rates integrate all of the geographic components of Risk Rating 2.0 premium calculations. Geographic rates are also available through SprinkleDatTM detailed data sheets. The additional inputs needed to complete a premium estimate are those more readily known by homeowners, e.g., structure related inputs such as foundation type and location of machinery and equipment (e.g., furnace and hot water heater), and insurance contract related variables such as amount of coverage and deductible.
Use the flood insurance cost calculator to estimate flood insurance premiums under the national flood insurance program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0 pricing approach.
Proceed from top to bottom following the instructions provided for each input. Your premium estimate is continuously updated as you progress. Multiplier values are provided directly below their associated input(s). In some cases, some inputs become irrelevant and are automatically greyed out and can be skipped; adjusting these values will not affect the premium.
UsE thE flood insurance Calculator to Evaluate Strategies to Lower Your Flood Insurance Premium under risk rating 2.0
Once you have a premium estimate, try running what-if scenarios by modifying one or more inputs. For example, test the impact of elevating your home by modifying the Foundation Type and the First Floor Height. Other flood risk mitigation measures include adding flood vents (for raised solid-wall foundations) and/or raising machinery and equipment above the first floor.
Risk Rating 2.0 Inputs and How They Affect Your Premium
Below is a brief description of all the key inputs used in a Risk Rating 2.0 flood insurance premium and how they affect your premium. These are grouped by type / structural makeup of your home, insurance contract, and location.
Type and Structural Makeup:
Your premium is driven by your home type and how it was or will be constructed. The following decrease flood risk and result in lower premiums:
- Type of Home and How Constructed: Apartment unit < condo < masonry single-family home < frame single-family home < other < two-to-four family home < mobile home.
- More Floors: Three story house < two story house < one story house.
- Higher Floor: Of an apartment/condo.
- Less Low-Lying Contents: Elevated foundation < slab foundation < crawlspace < basement.
- Elevated First Floor: First floor higher above the ground.
- Flood Vents: Basement/crawlspace/enclosure.
- Raised Home Appliances: Above lowest floor.
Insurance Contract:
Your insurance contract also drives your premium. These all result in lower premiums:
- Fewer claims (in prior 10 years, starting April 1st, 2023)
- Lower building replacement cost
- Lower contents replacement cost
- Less building coverage requested
- Higher building deductible
- Less contents coverage requested
- Higher contents deductible
- Discount via FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS).
Location:
Location drives risk: Your premium is driven by how close your home is to water and how high that water needs to rise to seep inside.
Having one of the following nearby increases flood risk and results in higher premiums:
- Larger streams/rivers
- Streams/rivers that rise dramatically
- Coastal and inland waters affected by storm surge
- Ocean or Great Lake
- Home in a relatively low area
States affected by hurricane driven flooding have higher rates. And areas protected by levees can have lower rates, and levee quality matters.
HOW IS RISK RATING 2.0 CALCULATED?
Risk Rating 2.0 starts with base rates that are a function of where you live: Your state, your watershed, whether you live in a single-family home, and whether your home is protected by a levee. Base rates and multipliers are determined for each of six flood risk categories:
- Fluvial (riverine)
- Pluvial (rain ponding)
- Storm surge
- Tsunami
- Great Lakes; and
- Coastal erosion.
Rates are zero for categories where the risk does not apply (e.g., tsunami risk is zero unless you are near the west coast).
Stacked on these base rates are numerous multipliers that are a function of your location relative to water and the vertical distance from the water to your first floor. These multipliers typically have values close to 1.0. Values less than 1.0 provide a discount (e.g., 0.9 gives a 10% discount), while values greater than one increase premiums. Each multiplier is determined first by measuring a distance, location, elevation, or area. There are multipliers for:
- Distance to the nearest stream/river
- Elevation relative to nearest stream/river
- Upstream drainage area of nearest stream/river
- Elevation of the structure relative to the surrounding topography
- Distance to a Great Lake
- Elevation relative to that Great Lake’s long-term average water level
- Levee quality
- Distance to the coast
- Distance to the ocean
- Watershed (territory)
Calculations are performed for each home, each with its own unique geographic data and multipliers.
Additional multipliers are applied, representing the type and structural makeup of the home, including the type of foundation, number of floors in the home or floor of the apartment/condo, first floor height above adjacent ground, and flood mitigation such as flood vents and placing appliances above the first floor.
A third set of multipliers is then applied, representing the elements of the flood insurance contract including replacement value of the building and contents, the requested coverage and deductible values, and discount percentage for community participation in the Community Rating System.
The sum of rates for all peril categories is your initial premium. Note that there are numerous fees as well, and the final premium is the initial premium plus fees, discounts, factors, and surcharges.
