FEMA Seeks Comment on Simplified Homeowner Flood Insurance Form
FEMA published a Federal Register notice requesting public comment for the “National Flood Insurance Program: Standard Flood Insurance Policy, Homeowner Flood Form,” intended to reduce barriers to flood insurance adoption by simplifying the form for homeowners.
The proposed form will use simplified language in a user-friendly format to allow homeowners of one-to-four family residences — the majority of the NFIP’s approximate 4.7 million policyholders — to consider their specific flood risk at the point of sale and customize their coverage. Understanding flood risk at the point-of-sale shifts policyholder risk awareness to an earlier step in the flood insurance process.
Part of creating a better customer experience for homeowner policyholders is allowing them to customize coverage to meet their needs. Along with the simplified form, FEMA is proposing to use five new endorsements.
Endorsements are changes to the insurance contract allowing policyholders to modify coverage, which would be a new approach to flood coverage offered under the NFIP. The five proposed endorsements are: Increased Cost of Compliance Coverage, Actual Cash Value Loss Settlement, Temporary Housing Expense Coverage Basement Coverage, and Builder’s Risk.
Prior to this form, the NFIP had only offered the Dwelling Form to serve the needs of homeowners of one-to-four family residences, landlords, renters, manufactured (mobile) homeowners, travel trailers, and condominium units. This one-size-fits-all approach diverges from other property insurance lines, which generally offer coverage specific to the type of property insured.
FEMA will use public feedback to evaluate any needed changes to the current Dwelling Form. The agency will continue to use this form to provide an insurance option for other types of policyholders like landlords, renters, and owners of mobile homes, travel trailers and condominium units. Comments are due April 8, 2024 on www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: FEMA-2024-0004.