Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate Issues First Annual Report

Office of the Flood
Insurance Advocate Issues First Annual Report

Dave Stearrett,
the flood insurance advocate, released his department’s first annual report.

In his “message” in the report, Stearrett said, “During our first calendar year (CY) of
operations, the OFIA received a few hundred of email inquiries at
insurance-advocate@fema.dhs.gov, spanning the four focus areas of the office: flood insurance (74%), flood hazard mapping (16%), floodplain management (7%)
and HMA grants (3%). In general, the inquiries received were from our customers
(policyholders and property owners). We also received referrals from
Congressional representatives, as well as FEMA and Federal Insurance and Mitigation
Administration leadership.

“Throughout the
year, we took steps to foster long-term programmatic improvements through
collaboration across FIMA in meetings, work groups and task forces; worked
closely with the NFIP program offices to identify opportunities to improve
outreach to and communication with our customers; provided feedback and input
on proposed improvements to communications; and engaged stakeholders and staff
in data gathering discussions. In particular, we began broader conversations
within FIMA on the need for messaging and policy consistency and we are working
to ensure our customers’ needs and concerns are taken into account as the NFIP
evolves,” he said.

“In this
report, we highlight five challenges and provide recommendations for each. As
we move forward, the OFIA will continue to work collaboratively with FIMA’s
program offices to identify issues and work together to develop tools,
resources and solutions that will support the fair treatment of all policyholders
and property owners,” Stearrett said.

Read the full Annual Report of the Flood
Insurance Advocate here.