Newsroom

June 21, 2017

House panel concludes flood insurance mark-up; awaiting Senate proposals

The House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday finished marking up several National Flood Insurance Program bills that would change the way the program handles claims, calculates premium rates and purchases private reinsurance, among other things.

One bill (H.R. 1422) that passed the committee unanimously would attempt to make it easier for homeowners to use private flood insurance to satisfy requirements for government-back mortgages. Another bill that passed (H.R. 2875) would make administrative changes to the NFIP intended to address problems that arose after Hurricane Sandy when it comes to processing claims.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, are also working on their own NFIP proposals, which are expected out soon.

NAFCU has pushed for a number of improvements to the NFIP, including increases in coverage limits, and capping premiums and rates.

In a letter to the committee last week, NAFCU supported long-term authorization for the program but said it was concerned about proposals that would drastically increase NFIP privatization efforts.