The U.S. Congress established the NFIP on August 1, 1968, with the passage of the National Flood insurance Act (NFIA) of 1968. Over the past 40 years this program has been broadened and modified several times. The NFIP is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The NFIP provides access to affordable, federally backed flood insurance protection for property owners. The NFIP is designed to provide an insurance alternative to disaster assistance to meet the escalating costs of repairing damage to buildings and their contents caused by floods.
Participation in the NFIP is based on an agreement between local communities and the Federal Government. Almost everyone in a participating community of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) can buy flood insurance. Nationwide, more than 20,000 communities have joined the Program.
With the NFIP, you are still eligible to purchase flood insurance after your home, apartment, or business has been flooded, provided that your community participates.
The NFIP was at one time financially self-sustaining until the hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 placed the program over $14 billion in the red, forcing the government to make up the difference, now due to super-storms and hurricanes the program is more than $23 billion in debt.
The program is not sustainable on its current path and with the advent of private carriers entering the market place the NFIP will rapidly become the carrier of last resort.
NFIP premiums will significantly increase over the coming years.