Private insurers freed to undercut federal flood program

What it does

This bill prohibits the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from requiring Write Your Own (WYO) insurance companies—private insurers that sell federal flood insurance under their own brand names—to agree not to sell competing private flood insurance products as a condition of participating in the federal program. Currently, FEMA can contractually bar WYO companies from offering private alternatives; this bill removes that restriction, allowing them to sell both federal and private flood insurance simultaneously.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is to remove a contractual restriction on private insurers, allowing them to compete directly with a federal insurance program. This is a deregulatory move that shifts market dynamics in favor of private flood insurance at the potential expense of the federal program's risk pool.

What the text implies

• WYO companies may use their federal program participation as a loss-leader or customer acquisition channel, then upsell customers to private products, potentially destabilizing the NFIP's risk pool by concentrating lower-margin federal business among the highest-risk properties.
• The bill does not address disclosure or conflict-of-interest rules, so customers may not clearly understand that the same agent selling them federal flood insurance is incentivized to steer them toward private alternatives.
• If WYO companies systematically cherry-pick lower-risk properties for private insurance, the NFIP's remaining portfolio becomes riskier and more expensive to subsidize, raising premiums for those who cannot access private alternatives (lower-income, high-risk, or rural properties).
• The bill applies retroactively to agreements entered into after enactment, potentially voiding existing non-compete clauses in current WYO contracts without compensation or renegotiation.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Citizens may benefit from increased competition and potentially lower premiums or better service from private alternatives, but they also face the risk that WYO companies will prioritize selling private (higher-margin) flood insurance over federal coverage, potentially leaving lower-income or higher-risk properties with fewer affordable options under the NFIP. The federal program's financial stability and cross-subsidization model could be undermined if WYO companies cherry-pick the best risks.

Who stands to gain

• private property insurance companies (WYO participants)
• insurance agents and brokers (expanded commission opportunities)
• private flood insurance underwriters

Named in the bill

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Write Your Own Program, National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, private property insurance companies, insurance agents and brokers

Where it stands

• Jun 12, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Jun 12, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $4,250,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 96 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Rick Scott, the sponsor, reported $69,750 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Property Casualty Insurance Association — $3,540,000 on 2 filings
• Reinsurance Assn of America — $710,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 23, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.