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National Flood Insurance Program paid $2.2 bn in claims for Hurricane Ian

National Flood Insurance Program had paid $2.2 billion in claims for Hurricane Ian an increase of almost 28% from the figure reported by on January 18th, 2023.

US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has now provided $896 million to households impacted by Ian, and $504 million to the State of Florida for emergency response to the storm.

U.S. Small Business Administration has provided $1.47 billion in disaster loans, while the NFIP has now paid $2.2 billion in claims to survivors, having received more than 45,800 flood insurance claims.

On December 12th, 2022, FEMA reported that $1.2 billion has gone to NFIP policyholders to help their Hurricane Ian recovery, with over 46,000 policyholders having filed claims following the storm’s landfall.

More than $237 million of those dollars were in the form of advance payments, where policyholders could receive up to $20,000 after filing a claim. Over 10,000 policyholders received advance payments as they worked their claims.

FEMA now estimates Hurricane Ian could potentially result in NFIP claims losses between $3.7-$5.2 billion. The losses include flood insurance claims received from five states, with the majority of claims coming from Florida.

“Since Hurricane Ian made landfall, FEMA and the entire federal family have provided billions of dollars in support to help Florida recover and affected residents jumpstart their recovery,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. “That’s why we continue to encourage Floridians who may have let their flood insurance coverage lapse to take advantage of our extended grace period and renew their coverage today by contacting their insurance company or agent.”

The NFIP announced in October that it extended the grace period to renew one’s policy from 30 days to 90 days for certain Florida policyholders in counties where Individual Assistance has been authorized.

The 90-day extension means once the policy is renewed, if the policyholder suffered flood damage from Hurricane Ian or another flood, they may file a claim. As of this release, the grace period applies to NFIP flood insurance policies with expiration dates between Sept. 13, 2022, and Oct. 23, 2022.

Over 8,000 NFIP policyholders in Florida may still be able to renew their policy due to the grace period extension.

To maximize awareness of the grace period extension, FEMA has taken the extraordinary step of going door-to-door to notify policyholders of this opportunity, while flood insurance companies and insurance agents have also been instructed to contact their clients.

There are 26 Florida counties designated for FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program where policyholders can take advantage of the grace period. FEMA encourages all affected policyholders residing in these counties to support their recovery by renewing their expired flood insurance policies today.

by Yana Keller