Skip to main content

Federal Emergency Management Agency: Ongoing Challenges Facing the National Flood Insurance Program

GAO-08-118T Published: Oct 02, 2007. Publicly Released: Oct 02, 2007.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), established in 1968, provides property owners with some insurance coverage for flood damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for managing the NFIP. Given the challenges facing the NFIP and the need for legislative reform to ensure the financial stability and ongoing viability of this program, GAO placed the NFIP on its high-risk list in March 2006. This testimony updates past work and provides information about ongoing GAO work on issues including (1) NFIP's financial structure, (2) the extent of compliance with mandatory requirements, (3) the status of map modernization efforts, and (4) FEMA's oversight of the NFIP. Building on our previous and ongoing work on the NFIP, GAO collected data from FEMA to update efforts, including information about claims, policies, repetitive loss properties, and mitigation efforts.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Claims processingClaims settlementFinancial managementFlood insuranceFloodsHurricane KatrinaInsurance claimsInsurance premiumsPolicy evaluationProgram evaluationProgram managementProperty damage claimsProperty lossesReporting requirementsRisk assessmentRisk managementPolicies and proceduresProgram coordinationProgram costs