Following CBS News Investigation of Fraud In National Flood Insurance Program, Gillibrand and Cassidy Decry ‘Shocking Lack of Oversight,’ Demand Answers From FEMA
"We are alarmed by news reports that conduct similar to that which led to the creation of the Sandy Claims Review continues to occur, and the victims this time are residents of
The text of the Senators' letter is below:
The Honorable
Administrator
Dear Administrator Long:
We are writing to express our deep concern about the treatment of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders as recently reported by CBS News[1]. Policyholders pay their flood insurance premiums expecting that when a flood occurs, they will be treated fairly and receive the payments they are owed under their policy in a timely manner in order to aid their recovery. Any attempt to intentionally deny, delay or underpay claims through extensive and costly litigation, or profit off this federal program at the expense of policyholders and taxpayers is unacceptable and must end.
Unfortunately, these problems are not new. Following Superstorm Sandy, a number of bad actors were found to have deliberately falsified engineering reports used to evaluate NFIP claims in an effort to deny or underpay those claims[2]. A federal magistrate judge[3] in the
Subsequent to the discovery of this fraud and gamesmanship,
Given this history, we are alarmed by news reports that conduct similar to that which led to the creation of the Sandy Claims Review continues to occur, and the victims this time are residents of
* Are any companies or individuals that participated in falsifying or misrepresenting the findings of engineering reports or any document used to evaluate a claim still allowed to participate in any capacity in the Write Your Own program?
* What concrete steps has
* How much money has
* Does FEMA have the authority under current law and/or regulations to prohibit a law firm or individual attorney from serving as counsel to Write Your Own companies in cases for which
- If yes, what is the standard
- Has FEMA taken any action to bar any law firms or attorneys from participating in NFIP cases?
* What is the process
Thank you for your attention to these matters. We look forward to receiving your response to these questions.
Sincerely,
***
[1] "Federal program meant to help flood victims spends millions fighting claims."
[2] "Guilty Pleas to Falsifying Reports on Hurricane Sandy Damage." New York Times report by
[3] "Underwater & Underpaid: Hurricane Sandy controversies renewed in LA." WWL report by WWL Staff.
[4] "Hurricane Sandy Victims Say Damage Reports Were Altered." New York Times report by
[5] "Federal program meant to help flood victims spends millions fighting claims."
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