Latest Flood insurance Stories

By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government's flood insurance program, socked by billions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina claims, returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to ask for $5.6 billion in additional borrowing authority. Senators acknowledged that the borrowing authority would need to be increased again. But Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby also declared the flood insurance program "bankrupt" and said it badly needed reform. He said his panel would write...

By Ed LeefeldtNEW YORK -- Call it "the dog that didn't bark." Fears that insurers would turn their backs on victims of the worst U.S hurricane season ever have proved to be mostly unfounded.With property casualty insurance companies facing record payouts of more than $70 billion after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma ravaged the Gulf Coast, concerns arose that insurers would come up short in their obligation to policyholders, or even go bankrupt, leaving damage claims unpaid.But a...

By Janet Guttsman NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Nervous insurers are steering clear of hurricane-hit New Orleans, posing new problems as people here try to rebuild or relocate. Almost three months after Hurricane Katrina damaged tens of thousands of homes, insurance companies worry about safety, regulations and future risk. Existing homeowners argue about payouts, and would-be buyers struggle to find any insurance at all. "We were ready to sign a contract on a house, but we can't get...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush signed into law legislation drastically raising the borrowing authority of the government's flood insurance program to $18.5 billion from $3.5 billion to cover claims from Hurricane Katrina and other flood disasters, the White House said on Monday. Run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Flood Insurance Program recently has been swamped with more claims from storms than the total it has paid out since it began in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress on Friday approved and sent to President George W. Bush to sign into law a bill to boost the borrowing authority of the government's flood insurance program to $18.5 billion from $3.5 billion, to cover claims from Hurricane Katrina and other flood disasters. Run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Flood Insurance Program recently has been swamped with more claims from storms than the total it has paid out since it...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Friday boosted the borrowing authority of the government's flood insurance program to $18.5 billion from $3.5 billion to cover claims from Hurricane Katrina and other flood disasters. The House of Representatives earlier this week approved raising the borrowing authority to $8.5 billion, while a House committee voted to go even further and raise the authority to $22 billion. Both chambers will have to approve the same amount before the change...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday boosted the borrowing authority of the government's flood insurance program to $22 billion from $3.5 billion to cover claims from Hurricane Katrina and other flood disasters. The committee's move comes just more than two weeks after that panel approved an increase in borrowing to $8.5 billion, but which was seen as far short of the total claims expected after recent floods. Run by the Federal Emergency...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives committee was expected to consider a bill on Wednesday that would boost the borrowing authority of the government's flood insurance program to as much as $22 billion from $3.5 billion to cover claims from Hurricane Katrina and other flood disasters. The committee's consideration comes just more than two weeks after that panel approved an increase in borrowing to $8.5 billion, but which was seen as far short of the total claims...

By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives committee on Thursday voted to increase the borrowing authority of the government's flood insurance program to $8.5 billion from $3.5 billion to help pay claims from Hurricane Katrina and other flood disasters. But one lawmaker warned the measure approved by the House Financial Services Committee was only a stopgap, adding that the flood insurance program was destined for insolvency. Program director David...

By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Claims against the government's underfunded flood insurance program for damage related to hurricanes Katrina and Rita could top $22 billion, the highest ever, the official overseeing the coverage said on Tuesday. David Maurstad described to senators how the storms swamped the National Flood Insurance Program with more damage claims than had been paid since it began in 1968. The government flood insurance program has just $3.5 billion in...