In early January, FEMA plans to implement a larger reinsurance program at the federal level

Public Notice of the FEMA Intended Procurement for NFIP

With the impacts of several large flood disasters over the past years, the National Flood Insurance Program experienced situations where the cost of policy claims far exceeded the amount of premiums and accumulated surplus. This resulted in the NFIP incurring a debt to the U.S. Treasury of $23 billion.

Through the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12) and Homeowners Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, FEMA received the authority to secure reinsurance from the private reinsurance and capital markets in an effort to lower future borrowing needs. In response, FEMA created the NFIP Reinsurance Program with the primary objective to diversify the tools it uses to manage the financial consequences of the government’s catastrophic flood risk.

The NFIP Reinsurance Initiative Team took a measured step to execute a small, reinsurance placement in September 2016 to identify and resolve any barriers or issues in advance of a larger implementation. In early January, FEMA plans to implement a larger reinsurance program at the federal level.

On Dec. 1, 2016 FEMA published a notice of its intended reinsurance procurement for the NFIP. The official notice can be found here. This notice includes all the procurement, contact information and details on how to submit a request for participation.