In 2012, Superstorm Sandy alone produced 144,484 claims for federal flood insurance coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP was created under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, and was designed to limit the impact of flooding on both private and public structures. The NFIP’s self-stated goal was to decrease the socioeconomic effects of natural disasters by encouraging the purchase of flood insurance and general risk insurance. However, after public allegations of structural flaws leading to systematic fraud in the handling of flood insurance claims by the NFIP after Superstorm Sandy, the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs created the Banking Investigative Group to review concerns over structural flaws within the NFIP as they pertained to underpaying flood insurance claims.
A User’s Guide to Easier Flood Insurance: A Look into the History of Flood Insurance Claims Dispute Processing and Suggestions for Improvement
Courtney Lauer