Sponsors (4)
The bill prevents premature FEMA denials and improves coordination with insurers—helping insured homeowners and reducing appeals—while imposing extra FEMA coordination work that may slow processing or denials in some disaster situations.
Homeowners with insurance in disaster-affected areas will not receive premature FEMA denial notices before their insurer finishes processing claims, reducing confusion, stress, and the chance of mistaken appeals.
Aligning FEMA notices with insurer determinations will reduce administrative errors and the volume of appeals and follow-ups for FEMA and local officials, improving coordination between insurers and government disaster-relief programs.
FEMA may face increased administrative burden to track insurer claim statuses and coordinate notice timing, which could raise program costs and slow overall processing capacity—especially during major disasters.
Delaying FEMA denial notices until insurers finish processing could slow FEMA's ability to quickly deny ineligible claims, potentially delaying delivery of funds to applicants and localities while eligibility is resolved.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires FEMA to write rules preventing issuance of denial notices to insured disaster-assistance applicants until insurers make final claim determinations in major disasters.
Requires FEMA to issue regulations that stop sending applicants a denial notice for disaster assistance when the applicant reports having insurance until the applicant’s insurance company has made a final determination on the insurance claim for the damaged home or facility in major disasters. The change is limited to rulemaking requirements for FEMA and is intended to prevent premature denial notices while insurer claims are pending.
Introduced February 10, 2025 by Robert Garcia · Last progress February 10, 2025