At the end of the day on Friday, December 8th, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is set to expire. The extension of the program is built into the Congressional Continuing Resolution, which, as of this publication, has yet to be passed. If the Continuing Resolution is not passed, the NFIP will expire. This means that no new policies can be renewed, existing policies will be non-renewed at their renewal, and it may become difficult to close on a home in a flood zone during this time. FEMA has also indicated they may not do a “look back” once the program becomes effective again, meaning forced place lender insurance may be required to cover the gap.
We would recommend the following actions for you at this point:
- If you are closing in the next few weeks, and flood insurance is part of your closing, pay your flood insurance policy now (before the end of the day Friday) before the closing, with the effective date of the policy still being on the closing.
- If you have an existing NFIP policy coming up for a renewal in the next few weeks, pay your premium now.
- If you close on a home during this time without getting a flood policy ahead of time, you will be forced to purchase private flood insurance or lender placed insurance.
We will keep you up to date on what is happening, but should a Continuing Resolution pass on or before Friday, we expect this issue to continue for the next month or so as multiple, short term Continuing Resolutions are considered.
For more information, click here for a recent article in The Patriot Ledger, ‘Flood insurance expert wants of possible lapse in federal program.’