CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress
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.
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 Treasury when the NFIF’s balance has been insufficient to pay the NFIP’s obligations (e.g., insurance claims). Since the end of FY2017, 32 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 March 14, 2025. These extensions did not increase the NFIP’s borrowing limit or provide additional funds to the NFIP.
As of October 28, 2024, the NFIP had $3.441 billion available to pay claims, with $108 million in the NFIF and $3.333 billion in the Reserve Fund, and can borrow up to $9.9 billion from Treasury, if needed.
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 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 Treasury to pay claims and to repay the loans with interest. Only current and future participants in the NFIP are responsible for repaying NFIP debt, as the insurance program itself owes the debt to Treasury and pays for accruing interest on that debt through the premium revenues of policyholders. Since 2005, the NFIP has made six principal repayments totaling $2.82 billion and has paid
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IN10784
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$6.17 billion in interest. The program paid $619 million in interest annually, accruing $1.7 million in interest daily.
Table 1 shows NFIP borrowing, repayments, and debt from FY1980 to FY2024. 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. 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 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.
Table 1. NFIP Borrowing FY1980 to FY2024
(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
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
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Fiscal Year Amount Borrowed Amount Repaid Cumulative Debt
2005 300,000,000 75,000,000 225,000,000
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
2021 0 0 20,525,000,000
2022 0 0 20,525,000,000
2023 0 0 20,525,000,000
2024 0 0 20,525,000,000
Sources: CRS analysis: 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).
In January 2017, the NFIP borrowed $1.6 billion for flood losses and debt repayments. On September 22, 2017, FEMA borrowed the remaining $5.825 billion from Treasury, reaching the NFIP’s authorized borrowing limit of $30.425 billion. On October 26, 2017, $16 billion of NFIP debt was cancelled 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 cancelled, 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 has not borrowed from Treasury since 2017. The NFIP currently has $9.9 billion of remaining borrowing authority.
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 $9 billion, triggering a full reinsurance claim. The NFIP has not claimed any reinsurance since 2017.
The NFIP could claim over $1.9 billion in reinsurance for floods in 2024. In order for the NFIP to claim on these policies, losses for a single named storm would have to reach $7 billion for the 2024 traditional reinsurance, $6 billion for the 2022 catastrophe bond, $7 billion for the 2023 catastrophe bond, and $8 billion for the 2024 catastrophe bond.
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IN10784 · VERSION 43 · UPDATED
Diane P. Horn Specialist in Flood Insurance and Emergency Management
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