FEMA announces 120-day NFIP grace period for flood policy renewals

NFIP grace period - Flood - homes

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is lengthening this time from having been 30 days.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced the extension of the NFIP grace period for flood insurance policy renewals to 120 days.

The National Flood Insurance Program’s limit used to be thirty days.

The reason the NFIP grace period length has changed is that FEMA is aiming to provide customers with relief at the moment. It acknowledges that many people are struggling with financial hardships from the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, the extension is meant to make it easier for customers to make the right decisions to suit their current financial needs and constraints.

The extension applies to the National Flood Insurance Program policies that have an expiration date falling between February 13 and June 15 this year. It means that customers will have up to 120 days after the policy expires to renew without suffering a coverage lapse, said FEMA. This is considerably longer than the 30 days people usually have for renewal without lapse.

The NFIP grace period extension is one of many ways customers are seeing eased rules with insurers.

““FEMA understands the sense of urgency related to financial hardships and wants to be proactive,” said David Maurstad, FEMA’s Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration deputy associate administrator. That administration is responsible for overseeing the National Flood Insurance Program.

“We want to make sure that policyholders don’t have to worry that their policy will lapse during the spring flood season or into the start of hurricane season. We hope this extension will give policyholders some peace of mind and allow them extra time to renew their policies to ensure they are covered should a flood loss occur,” added Maurstad.

For on-time renewal or to take advantage of the new NFIP grace period, or to resolve an underpayment, customers can proceed as they typically would. They can contact their insurance carriers, or they can reach out to the National Flood NFIP grace period - Flood - homesInsurance Program directly through their dedicated call center. It’s important to remember that this extension is a limited one applying only to certain specific expiration dates.

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