INSIGHTi
National Flood Insurance Program Borrowing
Authority
Updated July 24September 2, 2020
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, 15 short-term NFIP
reauthorizations have been enacted. For further details of these reauthorizations, see CRS Insight
IN10835, What Happens If the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Lapses? The current
reauthorization is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2020. 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. Table 1 and Table 2
show NFIP borrowing, repayments, and debt from 1981 to 2020. Comparable figures are not available
before 1980. When the NFIP was established, the borrowing limit was $250 million. In 1973, the
borrowing limit was increased to $500 million, or $1 billion with Presidential approval. The borrowing
limit was increased to $1.5 billion in 1996; however, borrowing at that level was not required before
2005. The largest debt was $917 million in 1997, which was reduced to zero by the end of FY2003.
However, Congress increased the level of borrowing to pay claims in the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane
season (particularly Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma). Congress increased the borrowing limit to
$18.5 billion in November 2005 and further increased the borrowing limit to $20.775 billion in March
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2006. In July 2010, the borrowing limit was decreased to $20.725 billion. In 2013, following Hurricane
Sandy, Congress increased the borrowing limit to the current $30.425 billion. Since 2005, the NFIP has
made six principal repayments totaling $2.82 billion and has paid $4.68 billion in interest. The program
paid $415.34 million in interest in FY2019.
Table 1. NFIP Borrowing FY1980 to FY1998
(nominal dollars)
Fiscal Year
Amount Borrowed
Amount Repaid
Cumulative Debt
1980
917,406,008
0
917,406,008
1981
164,614,526
624,970,099
457,050,435
1982
13,915,000
470,965,435
0
1983
50,000,000
0
50,000,000
1984
200,000,000
36,879,123
213,120,877
1985
0
213,120,877
0
1986
0
0
0
1987
0
0
0
1988
0
0
0
1989
0
0
0
1990
0
0
0
1991
0
0
0
1992
0
0
0
1993
0
0
0
1994
100,000,000
100,000,000
0
1995
265,000,000
0
265,000,000
1996
423,600,000
62,000,000
626,600,000
1997
530,000,000
239,600,000
917,000,000
1998
0
395,000,000
522,000,000
Source: CRS analysis of data provided by FEMA Congressional Affairs, November 20, 2017.
Table 2. NFIP Borrowing FY1999 to FY2020
(nominal dollars)
Fiscal Year
Amount Borrowed
Amount Repaid
Cumulative Debt
1999
400,000,000
381,000,000
541,000,000
2000
345,000,000
541,000,000
600,000,000
2001
600,000,000
345,000,000
600,000,000
2002
50,000,000
640,000,000
10,000,000
2003
0
10,000,000
0
2004
0
0
0
2005
300,000,000
75,000,000
225,000,000
Congressional Research Service
Fiscal Year
3
Amount Borrowed
Amount Repaid
Cumulative Debt
2006
16,600,000,000
0
16,885,000,000
2007
650,000,000
0
17,735,000,000
2008
50,000,000
225,000,000
17,360,000,000
2009
1,987,988,421
347,988,421
19,000,000,000
2010
0
500,000,000
18,500,000,000
2011
0
750,000,000
17,750,000,000
2012
0
0
17,750,000,000
2013
6,250,000,000
0
24,000,000,000
2014
0
1,000,000,000
23,000,000,000
2015
0
0
23,000,000,000
2016
0
0
23,000,000,000
2017
7,425,000,000
0
30,425,000,000
2018
6,100,000,000
16,000,000,000a
20,525,000,000
2019
0
0
20,525,000,000
2020
0
0
20,525,000,000
Source: Data 1980-2017 provided by FEMA Congressional Affairs, November 20, 2017. Data since 2017 from NFIP
Watermark financial statements.
a. The $16 billion of debt was cancelled rather than repaid (P.L. 115-72, Title III, §308).
Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria
In January 2017, the NFIP borrowed $1.6 billion for flood losses in 2016 and debt repayments. On
September 22, 2017, FEMA borrowed the remaining $5.825 billion from the Treasury, reaching the
NFIP’s authorized borrowing limit of $30.425 billion. On October 26, 2017, $16 billion of NFIP debt was
canceled to make it possible for the program to pay claims for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. This
represents the first time NFIP debt has been canceled, although Congress appropriated funds between
1980 and 1985 to repay NFIP debt. FEMA borrowed another $6.1 billion on November 9, 2017, to fund
estimated 2017 losses, including those incurred by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, increasing the
debt to $20.525 billion. The NFIP currently has $9.9 billion of remaining borrowing authority. As of June
30, 2020, the NFIP had $6.39 billion available, with $5.018 billion in the National Flood Insurance Fund
and $1.621 billion in the reserve fund.
The NFIP transfers a portion of its risk to the private sector through the purchase of reinsurance and the
issuance of catastrophe bonds. The NFIP’s first large reinsurance purchase was in January 2017, when
FEMA purchased $1.042 billion of reinsurance, structured to pay 26% of losses between $4 billion and $8
billion arising from a single flooding event. Claims for Hurricane Harvey exceeded $10 billion, triggering
a full reinsurance claim. FEMA did not claim on the 2018 and 2019 reinsurance purchases, as no storms
reached the threshold of $4 billion in claims.
The NFIP could claim up to $2.53 billion in reinsurance in 2020: $0.5 billion from the 2018 catastrophe
bond, $0.3 billion from the 2019 catastrophe bond, $0.4 billion from the 2020 catastrophe bond, and
$1.33 billion from the 2020 traditional reinsurance purchase. In order for the NFIP to claim on these
policies, losses for a single named storm would have to reach $4 billion for the 2020 traditional
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reinsurance, $5 billion for the 2018 catastrophe bond, and $6 billion for each of the 2019 and 2020
catastrophe bonds.
Author Information
Diane P. Horn
Analyst in Flood Insurance and Emergency Management
Disclaimer
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