says NAPSLO Executive Director
Brady Kelley.
“I say that because Surplus
Lines insurers have long written
Flood insurance policies — this
isn’t a new opportunity,” he con-
tinues. “Before BW- 12 was signed,
our market has always served as a
supplement to the NFIP. There are
a number of homes and commer-
cial properties that don’t fit within
the terms and conditions of the
NFIP policy. So we’ve oftentimes
served as an excess option, or
an option when the NFIP policy
doesn’t do the trick.”
Kelley adds, “From that per-
spective, the primary goal is to
preserve the types of solutions the
market was already providing.”
Back in April, the House
version of the Flood Insurance
Market Parity and Modernization
Act, H.R. 2901, easily passed
DAILY
NE WS
DAILY
NE WS
TUESDAY
September 27, 2016
Redefining what’s possible.
“Argo worked through the weekend so on Monday morning, right before our deadline,
we were able to deliver a quote. It’s something you don’t see often in the corporate world.”
—Thomas B. McGowan IV, President & CEO, The McGowan Companies
Protecting businesses with hard-to-place risks, Colony Specialty has become one of the top 10 carriers of excess and surplus lines in the U.S.
Learn more at www.argolimited.com/midyearreport2016
law. For National Association of
Professional Surplus Lines Offices
(NAPSLO) officials, though, the
work continues to push what they
see as their top federal legislative
priority across the finish line.
The bill essentially clarifies
language in the Biggert-Waters FLOOD BILL continued on page 4 A
Water Mark: Push Continues to Get
Flood Bill to the Finish Line
For NAPSLO’s Top Federal Legislative Priority, it’s a Matter of Timing
BY PHIL GUSMAN
After seeing such broad support in the House, it seemed only a mat- ter of time before the
Flood Insurance Market Parity
and Modernization Act would
pass the Senate and become
Flood Insurance Reform Act of
2012 (BW- 12) regarding the abili-
ty of privately issued Flood insur-
ance to meet lenders’ mandatory
purchase requirements. When
BW- 12 was originally reported
out of the House, it specified that
lenders shall accept private Flood
insurance for mandatory purchas-
es. However, language added later
in the process before BW- 12 was
passed led to confusion among
lenders evaluating policies for
the purpose of mandatory Flood
insurance requirements.
The Flood Insurance Market
Parity and Modernization Act
defines private Flood insurance
as “a policy issued by a company
licensed, admitted or otherwise
approved by the state.”
“All we’re doing in this legisla-
tion is clarifying that the Surplus
Lines market is in fact an eligible
market from which to accept a
private Flood insurance policy,”
