UPDATE as of Tuesday, 1/23/18:
Late yesterday, the House and Senate voted to approve government funding through February 8th, 2018. President Trump signed the deal soon after, ending the government shutdown and restoring FEMA’s operation of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
From now until February 8th, Congress will continue working on a longer-term budget deal that will include ongoing funding for the NFIP. Any business received during the short NFIP disruption will be processed as quickly as possible.
We will continue to monitor the reauthorization and keep you updated.
ORIGINAL POST Monday, 1/22/18:
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a federal program that is “authorized” (approved) by Congress. The NFIP that was originally extended by Congress through January 19, 2018, has now lapsed. Prior lapses have occurred and can last anywhere from weeks to months. This results in a pause of any insurance carrier being able to issue NEW NFIP flood policies or make coverage changes.
Here are some of the basics:
1. Everyone that has coverage in force, still has coverage until their next renewal date.
- If your insurance policy is set to renew on or around the date of the lapse (1/19/2018) and you have received your renewal notice, the insurance carrier is authorized to issue your renewal as long as payment is made before the end of the 30 day grace period.
- Insurance carriers are not allowed to issue any further renewal notices after the date of the program lapse.
2. New policies cannot be issued and coverage increases cannot be made to existing policies.
- If a request and payment was received on or before 1/19/18, we can honor these dates and process as normal.
- If the request and/or payment is received after 1/19/18, the insurance carrier is not authorized to issue new policies or coverage. Typically, the insurance carrier will hold the premium until it is reauthorized/approved and then will process. The effective dates will be determined by the reauthorization law.
If you have any questions, please contact us. We are including an informational sheet from FEMA – FAQ for NFIP Lapse. We are monitoring this matter closely and will continue to pass on updated information as it becomes available.
