National Flood Insurance Program Administrative Reform Act of 2025

Summary

Makes a wide set of changes to how the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) operates: tightens claims timelines and creates a new administrative appeals process; increases transparency and disclosure to policyholders; creates oversight and reporting for private insurers that sell NFIP policies under the Write Your Own (WYO) arrangement; requires studies on claims adjustment practices and earth movement/subsidence coverage; establishes a federal advisory committee; authorizes a voluntary pilot for preexisting-condition investigations; and creates criminal and administrative penalties for knowing false statements in connection with flood claims. Several provisions also limit reliance on certain technical reports, require disclosure of those reports to policyholders, require staffing for the Flood Insurance Advocate, and add procedural controls over litigation and reimbursement for WYO companies.

Key Points

• Sets a 120‑day floor for NFIP initial claim determinations with limited 30‑day extensions for extraordinary circumstances.
• Creates a formal administrative appeals process for denied or disallowed flood-claim decisions with required written decisions and time limits.
• Requires plain‑language policy disclosures and applicant acknowledgments about what flood policies cover and optional coverages.
• Mandates that policyholders receive full unredacted copies of technical assistance reports the NFIP relied on in claim adjustments.
• Establishes FEMA oversight of Write Your Own insurers’ litigation and the ability to deny reimbursement for unreasonable litigation costs.
• Creates a Federal Flood Insurance Advisory Committee with multi‑stakeholder representation and annual reporting requirements.
• Directs GAO studies on claims‑adjustment practices and on coverage/treatment of earth movement and subsidence.
• Authorizes a voluntary WYO pilot to investigate preexisting structural conditions that may affect claims, with Administrator surcharge authority to reimburse costs.
• Criminalizes knowing false statements or forged reports in connection with NFIP claims and requires administrative exhaustion prior to legal action.
• Prohibits FEMA from newly hiring attorneys who have been suspended or disbarred and tightens controls on use of technical reports.

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