GAO urges Congress to expand flood insurance coverage requirements

The Government Accountability Office's April 2026 report finds that 86 percent of high-risk properties lacked National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) coverage, and that NFIP policies fell from 5.5 million in 2010 to 4.5 million in 2026. Private-market policies made up 14 percent of all flood policies in 2025.

Federal law obliges owners with federally backed mortgages to buy flood insurance when a property lies in a FEMA-designated special flood hazard area (SFHA). GAO notes that 43 percent of properties in SFHAs have coverage, compared with 2 percent outside those areas, yet about 13 million high-risk properties remain outside FEMA SFHAs because current maps omit certain flood risks, especially heavy-rainfall (pluvial) flooding.

GAO recommends that Congress consider four statutory actions: (1) update the criteria for mandatory purchase determinations to include all sources of flood risk, including pluvial flooding; (2) direct FEMA to collect and publicly release property-level flood risk information; (3) require lenders of federally backed mortgages to provide flood-insurance quotes and obtain a signed risk disclosure when a buyer declines coverage; and (4) raise NFIP coverage limits and create a mechanism for periodic adjustment.

Each recommendation is listed as a separate "Matter for Congressional Consideration" with a status of "Open," indicating that GAO will track agency responses once Congress acts. The report underscores that statutory changes are needed to broaden protection for at-risk homeowners and to align coverage limits with potential flood losses.