Rising extreme weather risk places property insurance in uncomfortable position

extreme weather risks trend insurance industry

An increase in severe storms, flooding, wind, wildfires and other disasters are driving claims skyward. Flooding and wildfires are making massive headlines this summer and this extreme weather risk is placing considerable pressure on the property insurance industry. These types of disaster are spiking the number and cost of business and homeowners insurance claims. In fact, the extreme weather risk may have a greater economic toll on the insurance industry than any other industry in the world. Though insurers have been increasingly aware of the threat of climate change with…

Read More

Federal flood insurance program stuck on hold as Hurricane Harvey tallies climb

Federal Flood Insurance - US Congress

Southeastern Texas was devastated by the storm, placing the focus back on NFIP and the GOP restructuring effort. The Federal flood insurance program is in limbo at the moment while Texans face catastrophe following Hurricane Harvey. The Republicans have been trying to restructure the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Their goal has been to partially privatize it. NFIP is a subsidized program that costs taxpayers tens of billions in federal subsidies. The federal flood insurance program is facing an upcoming deadline of September 30. Unless Congress agrees to extend the…

Read More

Federal flood insurance program swamped by repeat claims

federal flood insurance program stop

NFIP struggles with debate over paying one claim after the next or supporting structure elevations. The federal flood insurance is finding itself drowning in repeat claims made by the same properties that experience regular flooding. At the same time that Congress is trying to work its way through a slew of bills for reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), that same program is paying out multiple times to the same claimants. This has created a call for reducing the number of repeat flooding incidences in order to shrink repeat…

Read More

Flood insurance premiums rise and will likely continue rising

flood insurance premiums storm news

Homeowners seeking to purchase coverage against overland flooding will be paying more as of this month. Changes that took effect on April 1 are sending flood insurance premiums skyward. This applies to homeowners who already have coverage against flooding as well as those who are buying it for the first time. National Flood Insurance Program rates rose by an average of approximately 6 percent this month. As a result, the average annual flood insurance premiums are now around $878. This doesn’t include a number of different types of surcharge which…

Read More

Trump’s flood insurance surcharge meets solid resistance from Jersey Shore

Hurricane Sandy Damage flood Insurance surcharge

Three federal lawmakers from that area say they will fight the proposal they’re calling unreasonable. Jersey Shore congressmen aren’t pleased about the proposed flood insurance surcharge the Trump administration has put forward. As a result they’ve said they intend to fight the proposal in order to stop what they feel is an unreasonable cost increase. The lawmakers said the surcharge for the insurance coverage will only cause more suffering. U.S. Congressmen Tom MacArthur (R-03), Frank A. LoBiondo (R-02) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-06) have agreed that the flood insurance surcharge…

Read More