Flood Insureds Left High And Dry

Who would have thought that when the lame duck Congress finally left Washington for good this year, they would have provided terrorism insurance, but not flood coverage?

Sure enough, the U.S. House of Representatives adjourned for the year after failing to vote to extend the National Flood Insurance Program–a development that a top official at the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America warned “could bring the real estate market to a grinding halt.”

That was the reaction of Justin Roth, director of government affairs for the Alexandria, Va.-based IIABA, after an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program, set to expire Dec. 31, was not included as part of a continuing resolution passed by the House. Earlier, the Senate had approved an extension.

“I'm hopeful that Congress will make this their first priority when they return from recess,” Mr. Roth said.

This is no small oversight. The NFIP, created by Congress in 1968, offers coverage to nearly 20,000 communities across the United States and its territories.

Perhaps the new Congress will get around to extending the program quickly, and a major crisis will be avoided. But in the meantime people in flood-prone communities are left in the lurch for at least the first week of the year, and perhaps beyond.

We were relieved that Congress finally got around to putting a federal terrorism reinsurance mechanism in place, but we are chagrined that flood insurance was left to expire, if only temporarily. It makes no sense to jerk around those who depend on a key program that is destined to be extended anyway.

Agents should do their part and keep the heat on the new Congress to act fast after they convene to restore this vital coverage. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed there are no floods between Jan. 1 and whenever Congress gets around to taking care of business.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, December 8, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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Flood Insureds Left High And Dry

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