Reinsurance group backs Senate bill on private flood insurance

The Reinsurance Association of America has thrown its weight behind U.S. Senate legislation aimed at fostering growth for private-market flood insurance, the association said Thursday.

S.B. 2381, introduced by Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., would clarify the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 by defining acceptable private flood insurance, the Washington-based association said in a statement.

While the 1968 bill intended for private insurers to provide flood insurance coverage, lenders "unfortunately did not accept" private flood insurance as meeting mandatory purchase requirements, the RAA said in the statement. The Heller-Tester bill would resolve this issue by defining acceptable private flood insurance, the association said.

“Reinsurers have an appetite to underwrite flood risk, and this legislation will facilitate the development of a private insurance market for flood risk,” Frank Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association of America, said in the statement. “The RAA looks forward to working with Sens. Tester and Heller to advance this legislation in the Senate.”

The association said the legislation will provide homeowners with more options as well as reduce the federal government's role in providing flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program.