Community Rating System
The National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements. As a result, flood insurance premium rates are discounted to reflect the reduced flood risk resulting from the community actions meeting the three goals of the CRS:
- To reduce flood losses;
- To facilitate accurate insurance rating; and
- To promote the awareness of flood insurance.
For CRS participating communities, flood insurance premium rates are discounted in increments of 5%; i.e., a Class 1 community would receive a 45% premium discount, while a Class 9 community would receive a 5% discount (a Class 10 is not participating in the CRS and receives no discount). The CRS classes for local communities are based on 18 creditable activities, organized under four categories: (i) Public Information, (ii) Mapping and Regulations, (iii) Flood Damage Reduction, and (iv) Flood Preparedness.
The CRS Resource Center is now available.
Credit points earned, classification awarded, and premium reductions given for communities in the National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System.
Premium Reduction
| Credit Points | Class | SFHA* | Non-SFHA** |
|---|---|---|---|
|
4,500+ |
1 |
45% |
10% |
|
4,000 - 4,499 |
2 |
40% |
10% |
|
3,500 - 3,999 |
3 |
35% |
10% |
|
3,000 - 3,499 |
4 |
30% |
10% |
|
2,500 - 2,999 |
5 |
25% |
10% |
|
2,000 - 2,499 |
6 |
20% |
10% |
|
1,500 - 1,999 |
7 |
15% |
5% |
|
1,000 - 1,499 |
8 |
10% |
5% |
|
500 - 999 |
9 |
5% |
5% |
|
0 - 499 |
10 |
0% |
0% |
*Special Flood Hazard Area
**Preferred Risk Policies are available only in B, C, and X Zones for properties that are shown to have a minimal risk of flood damage. The Preferred Risk Policy does not receive premium rate credits under the CRS because it already has a lower premium than other policies. Although they are in SFHAs, Zones AR and A99 are limited to a 5% discount. Premium reductions are subject to change.
There are now 1028 communities receiving flood insurance premium discounts based on their implementation of local mitigation, outreach, and educational activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements. While premium discounts are one of the benefits of participation in the CRS, it is more important that these communities are carrying out activities that save lives and reduce property damage. These 1028 communities represent a significant portion of the nation's flood risk, as evidenced by the fact that over 67% of the NFIP's policy base is located in these communities. Communities receiving premium discounts through the CRS cover a full range of sizes from small to large, and a broad mixture of flood risks including coastal and riverine. The following table lists the number of CRS communities by class as of October 1, 2005.
CRS Communities by Class as of October 1, 2005
- Class 9 = 314 (30%)
- Class 8 = 417 (41%)
- Class 7 = 203 (20%)
- Class 6 = 64 (6%)
- Class 5 = 27 (3%)
- Class 4 = 1 (Fort Collins, CO)
- Class 3 = 1 (King County, WA)
- Class 2 = 1 (Tulsa, OK)
There are 1028 CRS communities as of October 1, 2005.
CRS Communities and their Classes (PDF 226KB, TXT 91KB)
These pages are from the most recent Flood Insurance Agent's Manual containing current and historical listings of all CRS communities, their class, and insurance discount.
- Consumer campaign kicks off! Visit the new NFIP web site: FloodSmart.gov
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Adobe Acrobat (PDF)Last Modified: Thursday, 25-Jan-2007 13:49:34 EST