Portions of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 have kicked in and it holds some good news for homeowners living in flood zones.

Michael Hill of Ocean County-Based John Hill Agency said they didn't expect a provision that grandfather's certain rates to kick in so early but they became effective on Thursday May 1st.

"Which Is really going to help out people who are either going to buy or sell an older home near the water because they will get these older grandfathered rates and they won't be subject to the very, very high new actuarial rates," Hill said.

Most of the provisions of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act will phase in over a period of two years. According to Hill, "another big plus is it's going to include installment plans which aren't currently available. Right now if you buy a flood insurance policy you have to pay for it in full for the year."

The new policies will also cover certain flood prevention measures such as water-proofing and sand-bagging.

Even though flood insurance policies are provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, homeowner's purchase the policies through private carriers.

"We'll sell it through what they call write your own carriers which are actual insurance companies who handle the administration and the processing and even the claims handling but it's all backed by FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program," Hill said.

Get more information about the National Flood Insurance program here or go to the John Hill Agency website here.

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