The U.S. House of Representatives passed a revamped flood insurance bill by a wide margin. If it becomes law, private flood would meet the mandatory purchase requirement of the National Flood Insurance Program.

House members voted 419 to 0 for the bill – H.R. 2901, known formally as the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act. It’s designed to clarify an earlier version of the law passed in 2012; Reps. Dennis Ross (R-FL) and Patrick Murphy (D-FL) sponsored it.

Thomas Santos, vice president, federal affairs for the American Insurance Association, said passage of the bill would be good for booth consumers and private insurers.

“AIA commends the House for approving the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act,” Santos said in prepared remarks. “This bill will give consumers more choices when it comes to flood insurance [and] will also help encourage development of a private flood insurance market to complement the NFIP.

Next comes hoped-for action in the Senate. AIA, in its announcement of the bill passage, noted that Senators Dean Heller (R-NV) and John Tester )D-MT) introduced a Senate companion bill, S.1679.

AIA and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies had placed flood insurance reform high on their lists for 2016. For details, click here.

Source: American Insurance Association