Sponsors (2)
The bill expands federal reinsurance and data-driven tools to increase availability and market stability for catastrophe coverage and to incentivize mitigation, but it does so at the cost of higher premiums or administrative burdens for policyholders and insurers, potential taxpayer exposure, phased‑in coverage that leaves some people exposed for years, and regulatory uncertainty that could discourage participation in high‑risk areas.
Homeowners and small-business owners gain broader access to federally backed reinsurance that lowers insurer costs and supports availability of all‑perils property coverage (including catastrophes), improving the chance that coverage will be offered and claims paid after large disasters.
Financial institutions and policyholders face reduced systemic risk because the bill creates a federally guaranteed Fund and authority to issue bonds, increasing certainty that catastrophic claims will be paid and stabilizing the insurance market.
Homeowners and insurers are incentivized to invest in loss‑reduction and mitigation (through recognized partnerships and insurer practices), which can lower future property damage and reduce premiums or claims over time.
Homeowners and small businesses may face higher premiums because participating insurers must pay quarterly premiums into the program (and insurers may pass administrative costs or indexed premium increases on to policyholders).
Taxpayers could be exposed to large contingent liabilities because federal backing of Fund obligations and bond issuance may require public support if premiums and Fund resources are insufficient; future funded relocation or coverage programs could also create direct taxpayer costs.
Many residents remain exposed for years because coverage for certain perils (e.g., earthquake, flood) is phased in or conditioned on multi‑year reports, and those reports can take 2–3 years to complete, delaying relief or insurance availability.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal catastrophic property reinsurance Program, phases in named perils, requires insurer participation and premiums, and launches pilot and feasibility studies for multi‑year policies and relocation funds.
Official title: Require the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a catastrophic property loss reinsurance program, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 17, 2025 by Adam Schiff · Last progress July 17, 2025
Creates a federal catastrophic property reinsurance program (the INSURE Act Program) run by the Treasury Secretary to help private insurers cover very large losses from defined catastrophe perils (wind/hurricane, severe convective storm, wildfire, flood, and potentially earthquake and others). The Program will be phased in over several years, require participating insurers to pay quarterly premiums, set thresholds and reinsurance levels to encourage private-market participation and loss-reduction investments, and include pilot authority for multi-year all-perils property insurance policies and feasibility studies on relocating repeatedly uninsurable properties and adding earthquake coverage. The bill sets deadlines for program design and peril phase‑in, authorizes contracting with brokers/consultants, requires insurer participation conditions (loss‑prevention partnerships, retention rules), and establishes reporting and pilot program requirements to test multi-year policies and relocation fund feasibility.