OIC Briefs Committee on Flood Insurance: Private Market Growing, NFIP Still Important

The committee received an overview of the state's flood insurance market and recent claim activity from David Fort and Simon Casson of the Office of the Insurance Commissioner on Jan. 23.

Fort said that water that touches the ground is typically treated as "flood" and excluded from standard homeowner policies, requiring separate NFIP or private flood coverage. He said the private market has reentered the residential market in recent years, offering higher limits and replacement‑cost features not always available from the National Flood Insurance Program. Simon Casson presented county‑level maps showing private personal and commercial flood policy distributions concentrated in Puget Sound counties.

Fort provided preliminary claim figures from a December atmospheric flooding event: the OIC had about 700 federal NFIP claims and reported roughly $18,000,000 paid to Washington residents so far; many claims remain open and federal claim submission deadlines approach in early February. The OIC is conducting a data call to collect private market residential reporting and will provide a fuller picture in forthcoming updates.

Lawmakers asked whether private policies cover contents and loss‑of‑use (yes, typically) and about affordability differences; the presenters said private policies generally cost more because they provide broader coverage but may offer replacement‑cost and temporary housing benefits the NFIP does not. The committee did not take formal action during the briefing.