The US House of Representatives has reauthorised the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), putting its extension a step closer as an expiry date nears.

“It’s now the Senate’s turn,” Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) VP Robert Cartwright said. “The NFIP’s expiration would have significant repercussions, affecting both corporate and residential property owners.”

RIMS says the program is a priority and it has established a grassroots advocacy initiative to help secure swift action by the Senate. “We are now asking the Senate to do the same – pass legislation to reauthorise the NFIP and include language that would increase the number of private insurers entering the market,” it says.

Legislation passed by the House of Representatives allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency to enter into and renew flood policies through to 2021/22. That authority is currently due to expire after December 8.

The legislation would also make changes to improve the program’s financial status.

Borrowing from Treasury increased following hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and the program was hard-hit again by this year’s storms.