ALTA Pushes Congress to Extend National Flood Insurance Program
September 15, 2020
ALTA joined a coalition of 17 other groups asking Congressional leadership to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) before it expires Sept. 30.
In a letter, the groups said the time has never been more urgent to reform the NFIP.
“Allowing the program to lapse would be devastating to the policyholders across the nation who have already been impacted by COVID-19 and are facing an increasing number of severe flooding events,” the letter said. “With a lapse in the program’s authorization, policyholders would not be able to obtain coverage, or—importantly—buy or sell properties of all kinds.”
In the absence of reform, the groups encouraged Congressional leaders to extend the program in order to provide some continuity and certainty to the millions of policyholders who rely on a functioning NFIP. This would also give Congress more time to build consensus around substantive program reforms.
For the past several years, ALTA has encouraged Congress to pass a long-term reauthorization of the NFIP, while also supporting reforming and modernizing the program. Congress has passed several NFIP extensions the past three years.
Less than a month since Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana and Texas, Hurricane Sally slammed the Gulf Coast region with wind and several feet of rain. CoreLogic has estimated residential and commercial insured losses from Laura will come in at between $8-12 billion. The estimate includes losses from wind and storm surge.
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.