Florida homeowners in danger of losing their flood insurance coverage

Flood Insurance and reinsurance

Florida law could exclude the state from NFIP coverage, according to FEMA.

Flood-InsuranceFlorida lawmakers are working to expedite the availability of new building permits, but this may have put homeowners at risk of losing the flood insurance coverage they receive from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).  Flood insurance has become a very problematic issue throughout the country, but has been especially problematic in Florida recently. The troubles of flood insurance are linked to NFIP, a federal program which provides the majority of the country’s flood insurance coverage. The program has been crippled by massive debt, which has put its fate in danger.

The actions of lawmakers have not served to alleviate the problems with Florida’s flood insurance, though the consequences of expediting building permits were unforeseen. Lawmakers have been working to fix some of the problems with the state’s construction and real estate markets, but their work may exclude the state from coverage under NFIP. Such exclusion would have dire implication for homeowners, as they are required to have flood insurance coverage in order to maintain a mortgage. Without flood insurance, people could potentially lose their homes.

The problem stems from a legislation that was passed by lawmakers last month.

The legislation was signed into law by Governor Rick Scott despite warnings from FEMA regarding its potential impact on flood insurance coverage. The law indicates that communities in Florida are not required to obtain approval from federal or state agencies before they can issue building permits. This provision of the law was meant to help communities recover after natural disasters, but FEMA claims that it will not be able to provide flood insurance through NFIP to communities that do not meet the agency’s building requirements.

There are currently 459 communities in Florida that rely on NFIP for flood insurance coverage.

These communities account for over $470 billion in flood insurance assets spread out over some 2,059,371 insurance policies. Florida is one of the states that depends most on NFIP, a fact that is not lost to the state’s legislators. They are currently working to remedy the problem and believe that the state will not be excluded from NFIP flood insurance coverage in the near future.


Article: Florida homeowners in danger of losing their flood insurance coverage

Article Source: Live Insurance News –

Author: Stephen Vagus


Florida homeowners in danger of losing their flood insurance coverage


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