

“However, it could be the fact that a significant percentage of the population doesn’t realize that the NFIP is not their only choice,” she adds. “Among other things, we also are seeing individuals who are not required to carry asking for it as they become aware of the risk. “We have seen increasing growth in the line,” says Lori Yingling, personal lines underwriter for JM Wilson Corporation, a managing general agency and surplus lines broker. ”įor all the effort devoted to promoting a private flood insurance market, whether it is growing quickly or slowly is a matter of one’s expectations and point of reference. That could be a factor hindering sales of. “t could be the fact that a significant percentage of the population doesn’t realize that the NFIP is not their only choice. So after years of hearing about the gap in protection for flood damage, especially among home owners, and about the great opportunity to expand premium volume-up to about $40 billion in personal lines alone-has the time arrived when independent agents and brokers will see substantial demand for private flood insurance? It’s a time of testing for that prospect. In the private sphere, 2020 saw the release of new online applications that make it easy for property owners to assess their vulnerability to flood loss and compare the cost of private flood insurance products.


In December 2019, the Property and Casualty Insurance Committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) released a detailed report on “Considerations for State Insurance Regulators in Building the Private Flood Insurance Market.” The National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) followed in September 2020 with approval of a Private Primary Residential Flood Insurance Model Act.Īt the federal level, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced in November that it was joining other federally sponsored mortgage agencies in allowing lenders of FHA-backed mortgages to accept private flood insurance in lieu of coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). While most of us had to put our lives on pause in 2020, there was no letup in efforts to establish a self-sustaining voluntary market for private flood insurance in the United States. PRIVATE FLOOD INSURANCE All pieces are in place.
