U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) expressed concerns to the Biden Administration about a new risk rating system that he said could raise flood insurance premiums for the majority of Louisiana homeowners.
In a Nov. 1 letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell, Sen. Cassidy sought to get clarity on several issues related to the implementation of FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0, the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) new risk rating system.
“FEMA’s plan to implement the program first and provide details later is causing havoc. It has left policyholders in the dark without the basic information they need to prepare for the future,” said Sen. Cassidy. “Concerned constituents are contacting my office daily in dire need of clarity FEMA is not providing.”
In the past, the senator wrote, insurance agents could tell policyholders how much elevating their home, or making other improvements, would reduce their flood insurance rates. However, that information is not currently available under the Risk Rating 2.0 program, he said, noting the problem that creates for the new home construction market.
Sen. Cassidy wrote that policyholders stand to see hundreds, and in many cases thousands, of dollars in annual premium increases over the next several years under the program.
“If the Biden administration refuses to halt implementation of this disastrous policy, the least they can do is provide my constituents with the basic information they need to navigate this new rating regime,” Sen. Cassidy wrote.
FEMA needs to be more transparent and responsive to information requests from Congress and the public, the senator said.