The Future Of Flood Insurance

Leaders in the insurance industry anticipated that 2019, much like 2018, would be a tumultuous year for flood insurance with large catastrophic events, a legislative impasse, and administrative uncertainty. For the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and private flood insurance, all were true, and this may continue into 2020.

Unlike other insurance programs, the NFIP is authorized by Congress. And while private flood insurance is not controlled by a federal body, Congress’ actions (or inactions) influence the industry.

Recently, the NFIP has been suffering from a lack of a long-term reauthorization by Congress.

The program, which saw its major authorizations expire two years ago, has been propped up by short-term extensions, with proposed reform measures receiving mixed reactions from stakeholders.

To add to the uncertainty, FEMA’s new rating system, Risk Rating 2.0, has been postponed into 2021 after immense pressure by Congress to halt it.