The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will run out of money next week — leaving ‘Write Your Own” carriers and policyholders in limbo — unless a planned spending bill is passed by lawmakers on Friday, according to a statement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“[FEMA] today notified Congress that without the approval of additional borrowing authority, funds available to pay claims will be exhausted sometime around the week of January 7, 2013,” the agency said in a statement today, adding that 115,000 claims could be put on hold.
FEMA oversees administration of the NFIP program.
The agency adds that a majority of the outstanding claims it needs to address are for Superstorm Sandy victims and that it needs $9.7 billion in additional borrowing authority to support the National Flood Insurance Fund. FEMA added that it has paid out nearly 140,000 claims worth $1.7 billion in Sandy claims thus far.
“FEMA continues to work closely with Write Your Own (WYO) partner companies to meet the needs of survivors and accelerate partial payments for claims,” said Dave Miller, FEMA’s Associate Administrator for the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration in a statement. “We urge timely congressional action with regard to the pending supplemental to continue to meet survivor needs.”
A statement from House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said that they plan to hold a vote on the NFIP funding tomorrow.
“The House will vote Friday to direct needed resources to the National Flood Insurance Program. And on January 15th, the first full legislative day of the 113th Congress, the House will consider the remaining supplemental request for the victims of Hurricane Sandy,” the statement said
