Tuesday, 4 October 2011
NFIP Extended Until Nov. 18th
Legislation was passed on Oct. 4th that will see the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) extended until Nov. 18th. The federal program was previously extended for just a week and was due to expire soon. Insurance groups around the country approved of the extension, but some of them feel that a temporary extension isn’t really enough.
The bill that was passed allows the government to fund specific programs including the NFIP at its discretion up until Nov. 18th. It was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and it just needs the signature of President Obama for it to come into effect. The senate passed the bill during the last week of September.
The Senate and House are reportedly focusing their attention on getting a legislation passed that would see the NFIP extended for a period of five years. They feel it’s needed because the program offers coverage to about 5.5 million property owners who live in regions that are prone to flooding.
The House passed its version of the flood insurance on July 12th and the Senate Committee on Banking also passed a version known as the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act. However, the full Senate has to vote on it before the Senate and House are able to come to terms on a final version of the bill.
Most experts feel that Congress has bought itself some more time concerning a longer extension with the passing of this legislation on Oct. 4th. It’s hoped that the Senate and House will now have enough time to get together and come up with a long-term extension for the NFIP.
According to a national coalition group at SmarterSafer.org, the temporary extension of the flood insurance program won’t provide the coverage needed by people if a national disaster should happen to strike. The organization feels any delays by Congress in extending the coverage could result in disaster to people affected by floods once it expires.
The NFIP has received quite a few short-term extensions over the past couple of years, but they have created confusion and uncertainty for many property owners and real estate agents. In addition, according to an article by Insurance and Financial Adviser, funding for the program expired twice during the past year which resulted in lapses in coverage. But in both instances, retroactive extensions were approved by Congress.
