NFIP News

Superstorm Challenges Definition of Basement in New Jersey

Irene Sobolov believes the first floor of her house is just that. The federal government and her insurance company say it’s a basement. The semantics, Sobolov has learned, are very expensive. Sobolov and others whose lower-level apartments or businesses sustained …

Flood Insurance Funds Will Run Out Jan. 7 Without Congress OK: FEMA

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), has notified Congress that without the approval of additional borrowing authority, funds available to pay claims will be exhausted sometime around the week of January 7. …

More Businesses Seek Government Flood Insurance After Sandy: Marsh

More businesses are expressing interest in purchasing flood insurance coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in the wake of Superstorm Sandy’s heavy rain, record storm surge, and resulting widespread flood damage, according to insurance broker Marsh. Although most …

Mississippi Town Could See Decrease in Insurance Costs

Residents in the Mississippi Delta town of Metcalfe are now able to buy coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program. Mayor Corey Holmes tells the Delta Democrat Times that the flood coverage should help improve the town’s fire protection rating. …

More Businesses Seek Flood Insurance After Sandy

Interest among businesses in purchasing flood insurance coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is increasing in the wake of Superstorm Sandy’s heavy rain, record storm surge, and resulting widespread flood damage, according to insurance broker Marsh. Although most …

Sandy to Test Revamped Federal Flood Insurance Program

Superstorm Sandy is threatening to drag the U.S. government’s debt-ridden flood insurance program back into the political crosshairs just months after Congress attempted to put the controversial program on a sound financial footing. It is unclear if claims from Sandy, …

Reinsurers, NFIP Will Bear Brunt of Sandy Losses

While primary insurers will likely shoulder most of the losses from Hurricane Sandy, the reinsurers might not go completely unscathed, based on recent experience. An analysis of catastrophe losses in the wake of Hurricane Irene, which also affected the New …

U.S. Insurers Prepare for Impact of Hurricane Sandy

Insurers say they are making the usual preparations for a hurricane – activating claims teams, staging adjusters near the locations most likely to be affected and generally getting ready to pay for a potentially huge volume of losses. “We plan …

Circuit Courts Affirm Strict Construction of Flood Insurance Policies

Two recent circuit court decisions affirmed that national flood insurance policies are to be strictly construed and are not subject to the flexible standards applied to private insurance policies. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was created because the private …

Thousands File Flood Insurance Claims After Isaac

Thousands of flood insurance claims are being filed in the wake of Hurricane Isaac, a slow-moving storm that hammered several parishes in southern Louisiana with prolonged, drenching rains and tropical-storm force winds, leaving water damage in parishes that don’t typically …