The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced that it will extend the grace period to renew flood insurance policies to help policyholders affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
To support customers who may be experiencing financial hardships due to the outbreak, FEMA said it would push back the grace period from 30 days to 120 days.
This extension applies to NFIP flood insurance policies with an expiration date between February 13-June 15, 2020.
To avoid a lapse in coverage, there is typically a 30-day grace period to renew policies, but due to the widespread economic disruption arising from this pandemic, FEMA recognises that flood insurance policyholders may not meet the standard policy renewal deadline.
“FEMA understands the sense of urgency related to financial hardships and wants to be proactive,” said David Maurstad, deputy associate administrator of FEMA’s Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, who oversees the NFIP.
“We want to make sure that policyholders don’t have to worry that their policy will lapse during the spring flood season or into the start of hurricane season,” Maurstad added.
“We hope this extension will give policyholders some peace of mind and allow them extra time to renew their policies to ensure they are covered should a flood loss occur.”
