NFIP Advance Payments Expedite Home Repairs for Policyholders

BATON ROUGE, La., Feb. 14 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the following news release:

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders received advanced flood insurance payments of more than $361 million to expedite home repairs following the August flood in Louisiana. Payments were dispersed in as little as five days.

The average NFIP advance payment was $18,733. More than $2.3 billion was disbursed to policyholders. The NFIP received a total of 29,551 claims for this disaster with the average payment of $85,798.

A conditional wavier of the Standard Food Insurance Policy (SFIP) granted policyholders the advance payment opportunity prior to an official inspection with an insurance adjuster. Additional payments are calculated based on the damage assessment taken by the adjuster.

Policyholders must submit an NFIP Proof of Loss form as part of the claim process. There are more than 700 Proof of Loss forms left to process. A Proof of Loss form includes detailed estimates of the cost to replace or repair damaged property.

FEMA recently extended the Proof of Loss deadline for NFIP policyholders affected by the August flood. Policyholders now have a total of 270 days from the date of their loss to return Proof of Loss forms to their flood insurance carrier.

Though the Proof of Loss deadline has been extended, FEMA urges policyholders to submit forms as soon as possible. The additional time allows policyholders to work with their insurance company to finalize claims.

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