Post Date June 8, 2012 – The United States Senate and House of Representatives have now agreed on extending the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until July 30, giving it 60 days more.  The program should have ended on May 31.  Now, the Senate and House Representatives legislation to extend the flood insurance program and awaits President Obama’s signature.  NFIP’s 60-day extension is being viewed as a victory for many homeowners across the country especially those living within flood-risk areas.  The program provides affordable insurance coverage for homeowners with regards to flood insurance policies.

 According to Steve Rothman, a congressman from New Jersey, extending the flood insurance program is vital to their state where there are over 35,000 flood insurance policies that are active, insuring properties worth nearly $54 billion. In a press release, Rothman was cited saying that last year alone, NFIP had paid out $624,608,371 for flood losses in New Jersey. Rothman viewed that if the said insurance program was not extended, property owners who had been obliged to buy flood insurance will be incapacitated to complete mortgage transactions, and that claims payments for Hurricanes Lee and Irene would be halted. In addition, the insurance program had benefit a lot of New Jersey areas, helping people recover from flood damages like in Hudson, Passaic and Bergen Counties.

Since 2008, the NFIP was already caught in the loop of short-term extensions and that in 2010, it already expired four times. The recent extension had also come timely for the start of the Atlantic hurricane season. Jim Grande, a senior official of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said that the brewing storms in the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season shall serve as a reminder for the need of a strong and viable flood insurance program.  The two-month extension for NFIP will also provide the opportunity for legislators to study the problems of the said program and formulate its solutions.  On the other hand, several groups including that of the Property Casualty Insurers Association had lobbied for reforms of the NFIP and its long-term reauthorization.

-Mike

Michael E. Dortch
President &  Managing Agent
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