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National Flood Insurance Program Borrowing

Authority



Updated October 11, 2023


This Insight evaluates the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) borrowing authority to receive loans
from the Treasury and the current financial situation of the NFIP.


NFIP Funding

Funding for the NFIP is primarily maintained in an authorized account called the National Flood
Insurance Fund (NFIF). The NFIP is funded from receipts from the premiums of flood insurance policies,
including fees and surcharges; direct annual appropriations for specific costs of the NFIP (only for flood
mapping); and borrowing from the Treasury when the NFIF's balance has been insufficient to pay the
NFIP's obligations (e.g., insurance claims). Since the end of FY2017, 26 short-term NFIP
reauthorizations have been enacted. For further details of these reauthorizations, see CRS Insight
IN 10835, What Happens If the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Lapses? The current
reauthorization is set to expire on November 17, 2023. These extensions did not increase the NFIP's
borrowing limit or provide additional funds to the NFIP.


NFIP Borrowing Authority

The NFIP was not designed to retain funding to cover claims for truly extreme events; instead, the
National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 allows the program to borrow money from the Treasury for such
events. For most of the NFIP's history, the program has been able to cover its costs, borrowing relatively
small amounts from the Treasury to pay claims and to repay the loans with interest. Only current and
future participants in the NFIP are responsible for repaying NFIP debt, as the insurance program itself
owes the debt to the Treasury and pays for accruing interest on that debt through the premium revenues of
policyholders. Since 2005, the NFIP has made six principal repayments totaling $2.82 billion and has paid
$5.71 billion in interest. The program paid $300.44 million in interest in FY2022.
Table 1 shows NFIP borrowing, repayments, and debt from FY1980 to FY2022. Comparable figures are
not available before 1980. When the NFIP was established, the borrowing limit was $250 million. In

                                                            Congressional Research Service
                                                              https://crsreports.congress.gov
                                                                                IN10784

CRS INSIGHT
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress

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