PIA National — Again — Pushes for Long-Term NFIP Reauthorization

For years PIA National has pushed for a long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The last multi-year NFIP reauthorization expired on September 30, 2017.

Since then there have been 30 short term extensions and three times the NFIP expired.

It’s for that reason that PIA National has continually pushed for another long-term reauthorization of the program. And since the current authorization expires on September 30th, the PIA is once again arguing that Congress needs to quit procrastinating and do a longer-term solution.

In a letter to congressional leaders last week, the PIA says it endorses a bill by Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy. Senate Bill 4772 is called the NFIP Extension Act of 2024 and it would give the NFIP a one-year extension with no strings attached.

“During a lapse, consumers engaged in real estate transactions may experience disruptions, with sales of homes in mandatory purchase zones most likely to be delayed indefinitely,” PIA National said. “If flooding events occur during a lapse, claims associated with those losses may not be processed until the program is reauthorized. Prior NFIP lapses are estimated to have delayed the sale of over one thousand homes per day, and the longer the lapse, the more widespread the disruption.”

PIA National also says a long-term reauthorization should be accompanied by some very much needed reforms.

“However, at this late stage, we urge the passage of a clean extension of the NFIP to provide stability to consumers and other stakeholders and for the security of the American economy writ large,” PIA National added.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has also sent a letter to Congress asking for a long-term reauthorization. The NAIC says the 30-some extensions since 2017 continue to inhibit the ability of consumers to plan ahead for a real estate purchase.

Most policies issued by the NFIP have a 30-day delay.

The NFIP says a long-term reauthorization now would be “an opportunity to facilitate greater growth in the private flood insurance market to help provide consumers with additional choices for flood insurance products.”

Mitigation discounts for those who build, rebuild or retrofit their properties to resist flooding needs to be embedded in a long-term extension. This would let those same people put money into a tax-preferred savings account for disaster mitigation and expenses used in recovery.

Source link: PIA National — https://bit.ly/4dqvHeN

Source link: NAIC — https://bit.ly/3ZuOpyw