Flood Insurance: Congressional Action Could Help Increase Coverage for At-Risk Properties

Overview

A GAO review found that most U.S. property owners at high risk of flooding lack flood insurance: as of April 2026, 86% of high‑risk properties did not have National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) coverage and NFIP policies fell from about 5.5 million in 2010 to 4.5 million in 2026. Growth in the private market partially offset that decline, with private policies representing about 14% of all policies in 2025. The federal mandatory purchase requirement for properties in FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) remains the primary driver of coverage, but FEMA flood maps do not capture all flood risk (for example, heavy‑rainfall risk), and GAO’s analysis of First Street data found many high‑risk properties lie outside SFHAs. GAO identified four Congressional actions that could increase coverage: broaden the purchase requirement’s risk basis, publish property‑level flood risk information, require lenders to provide flood insurance quotes, and raise NFIP coverage limits. This is a critical budget‑action development affecting agencies named in the tags (DHS (Department of Homeland Security), FEMA, HUD, USDA, VA, SBA) and market segments such as Insurance Services, Risk Assessment and Modeling, and Geospatial Services; contractors should prepare to respond to potential statutory or program changes and follow-up solicitations. See the Winning Federal Contracts Guide for capture and proposal fundamentals.

Immediate Actions (This Week)

• [ ] Assign a small response team (capture, technical lead, pricing, partnerships) to monitor this event and assess relevance to your offerings in Insurance Services, Risk Assessment and Modeling, Geospatial Services, and related markets.
• [ ] Inventory current capabilities and past performance that align to NFIP, flood risk modeling, lender support, and policy‑level data publication; flag gaps to prioritize investment or partner outreach.
• [ ] Monitor agency communications from DHS, FEMA, HUD, USDA, VA, and SBA for notices, Requests for Information, or Congressional direction related to flood insurance policy changes.

Short-Term Actions (30 Days)

• [ ] Prepare capability briefs and one‑page statements of interest tailored for DHS/FEMA and other affected agencies summarizing how your services support broader flood‑risk mapping, property‑level risk data, lender quoting, or insurance product expansion.
• [ ] Identify potential teaming partners across Insurance Services, Geospatial Services, and Data Analytics; document roles, past performance, and preliminary pricing approaches for quick proposal formation.

Long-Term Actions (90+ Days)

• [ ] Develop or enhance demonstrators (data visualizations, case studies, pilot risk maps, sample lender‑quote integrations) that show how your solution addresses limits in FEMA SFHA mapping and supports property‑level risk transparency.
• [ ] Maintain an active capture plan keyed to Congressional and agency milestones: track legislation, budget signals, and ensuing solicitations or program announcements; be ready to convert statements of interest and pilots into full proposals.

Compliance Checklist

Compliance scope TBD — re-evaluate when official guidance is published.

Resources

• FEMA: https://www.fema.gov (monitor NFIP and mapping guidance)
• DHS: https://www.dhs.gov
• HUD: https://www.hud.gov
• USDA: https://www.usda.gov
• VA: https://www.va.gov
• SBA: https://www.sba.gov
• GAO: https://www.gao.gov (source of the reported findings)
• Internal capture and proposal guidance: Winning Federal Contracts Guide (/insights/winning-federal-contracts)
• Related security and data handling guides: CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) Compliance Guide (/insights/cmmc-compliance-guide), CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information)-Safe CRM Guide (/insights/cui-safe-crm-guide)

How Cabrillo Club Automates This

• Cabrillo Signals War Room — Already detected this event and delivered this briefing within minutes. For subscribers, the War Room will continue to ingest GAO report updates, Congressional budget activity, and agency notices tied to flood insurance and will raise alerts when DHS/FEMA/HUD/other named agencies publish follow‑on guidance or solicitations related to NFIP, mapping, or lender requirements.
• Cabrillo Signals Match Engine — As agencies or solicitations appear, the Match Engine will automatically rescore your opportunity pipeline to reflect increased relevance for Insurance Services, Risk Assessment and Modeling, Geospatial Services, Data Analytics, Mortgage Services, and related NAICS tags in your profile. Match scores, keyword relevance, and agency alignment update in real time so capture teams know which opportunities to pursue first.
• Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub — Use the Intelligence Hub to track affected agencies and save searches for NFIP, FEMA mapping work, property‑level risk data contracts, and related opportunities. Configure saved searches and alerts so you receive notifications when SAM.gov (System for Award Management) postings or agency RFIs/RFPs matching this event’s profile are published.
• Proposal Studio (Proposal OS) — Proposal Studio generates compliance matrices, pulls relevant past performance for NFIP‑adjacent work, and drafts initial technical approaches and win themes tailored to flood‑risk mapping, lender quoting integrations, or insurance product design. The bid/no‑bid engine factors in the event’s severity and agency alignment to help prioritize proposals.
• Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker — The Workflow Tracker creates a 9‑gate capture workflow for any pursuit triggered by this event, routes compliance and legal reviews, tracks required supplier or partner certifications, and compiles an audit‑ready documentation package to accelerate submission.

Call to action: contact your Cabrillo Club account representative or open the Cabrillo Signals War Room item to enable saved searches and proposal templates specific to flood‑insurance program opportunities.