Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (at lectern) this week announced his plan to start the New York Flood Insurance Association. Photo Courtesy of Assemblyman Goldfeder’s Office.
An area elected official last weekend announced that, in an effort to give vulnerable homeowners a choice, he will introduce new state legislation creating an organization designed to serve residents in flood-prone communities.
Joined on Sunday by civic leaders and families impacted by Superstorm Sandy, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Ozone Park) detailed his plan to form the New York Flood Insurance Association, a joint underwriting alliance aimed at providing homeowners with an alternative to rising federally-backed flood insurance premiums by offering “economical, fair and non-discriminatory policies; and protect families from the unfair flood damage claims practices experienced following Superstorm Sandy.”
Goldfeder, who last month was appointed to the Assembly Committee on Insurance, said that the legislation amends state insurance law to create the NFIA as a choice for consumers when flood insurance is unaffordable or difficult to obtain. Under the proposed law, NFIA membership would be comprised of state-approved insurers and would be governed by the Superintendent of the State Department of Financial Services and a board of 13 directors.
According to the plan, any homeowner or renter who has made a reasonable effort to find coverage on the private market could be eligible to apply to the NFIA for coverage of up to $1.5 million for property and contents.
The NFIA includes provisions to help keep costs low for both policyholders and insurers. Policy premiums would be capped at certain percentages of private market policy rates, based on the class of property. The association would also have the power to distribute any premium gains and losses in excess of 1 percent evenly among members.
“This association will ensure that rising flood insurance premiums do not price families out of the neighborhoods they know and love,” Goldfeder related.
Following Sandy, many homeowners found their insurance claims contested by providers, with some even experiencing allegedly fraudulent practices on the part of insurance adjusters. At the same time, coastal communities nationwide are faced with the potential for large increases in their flood insurance as a result of the Biggert-Waters Act of 2012, which Congress voted to delay until 2017.
A city spokeswoman said they are reviewing Goldfeder’s proposal, and pointed to the de Blasio administration’s work on flood-insurance affordability, including advocacy in support of federal flood insurance reform last year; the consumer education campaign on flood risks, maps, and insurance; and affordability studies now getting underway for both 1-4 family and multi-family buildings.
Joann Ariola, president of the Howard Beach-Lindenwood Civic, said that Goldfeder’s bill is “the only hope for” flood-zone homeowners.
“Homeowners need to know that there is a mechanism in place for them to affordably purchase homeowners insurance,” she said.
By Michael V. Cusenza
