[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3672 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3672

To clarify and improve the payment of multiperil insurance claims, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 29, 2010

  Mr. Wicker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To clarify and improve the payment of multiperil insurance claims, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Coordination of Wind and Flood 
Perils Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. PAYMENT OF MULTIPERIL CLAIMS.

    The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 is amended by inserting 
after section 1312 (42 U.S.C. 4019) the following new section:

``SEC. 1312A. PAYMENT OF MULTIPERIL CLAIMS.

    ``(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are--
            ``(1) to allow an insured individual or small business to 
        commence repairs or replacement, or both, of insured property 
        and to recommence business operations as soon as possible after 
        a natural disaster; and
            ``(2) to remove the burden of determining flood and wind 
        loss allocation for the purpose of insurance claims from the 
        insured and to place such burden on the entities that are 
        responsible for the payment of such claims.
    ``(b) Payment of Multiperil Claims.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the event of an occurrence of loss 
        resulting from physical damage to or loss of real property or 
        personal property related thereto located in the United States 
        arising from the combined perils of flood and wind, the 
        Administrator and any insurer (including a State-run windpool) 
        that insures the wind peril shall enter into good faith 
        negotiations regarding--
                    ``(A) the general method or methods by which proven 
                claims for such multiperil losses shall be adjusted and 
                paid; and
                    ``(B) the allocation of such payments between the 
                insurer, the Administrator, and the insured.
            ``(2) Limitation.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In the event that the 
                Administrator and an insurer (including a State-run 
                windpool) that insures the wind peril cannot agree as 
                to the specific distribution of perils that resulted in 
                a loss described under paragraph (1), the Administrator 
                shall pay 50 percent of the disputed claim until the 
                claim can be settled.
                    ``(B) Fair share.--The terms of any agreement or 
                negotiations entered into pursuant to paragraph (1) 
                shall require that, in order to fully compensate the 
                insured for his, her, or its loss as soon as 
                practicable after the occurrence of such loss, an 
                insurer (including a State-run windpool) that insures 
                the wind peril pay 50 percent of any disputed claim 
                until the claim can be settled.
                    ``(C) No overcompensation.--The Administrator and 
                an insurer (including a State-run windpool) that 
                insures the wind peril shall work collaboratively to 
                ensure that an insured policyholder does not receive 
                payments under this section in excess of the amount of 
                the insured's actual loss.
                    ``(D) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this 
                section shall be construed to negate, set aside, or 
                void any policy limit, including any loss limitation, 
                set forth in a standard flood insurance policy.
    ``(c) Failure To Reach Agreement on Loss Allocation.--The terms of 
any agreement or negotiations entered into pursuant to subsection 
(b)(1) shall require that if an insurer (including a State-run 
windpool) that insures the wind peril and the Administrator fail to 
reach an agreement regarding multiperil losses pursuant to subsection 
(b), including as to the cause or allocation of a multiperil loss, then 
each such entity shall agree to have any dispute relating to multiperil 
losses resolved by the arbitration panel established under subsection 
(d).
    ``(d) Arbitration Panel.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--As allowed under section 1307(e) of 
        the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104), and 
        notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 90 
        days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
        of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall establish an 
        arbitration panel to efficiently and clearly resolve disputes 
        relating to multiperil losses between the Administrator and an 
        insurer (including a State-run windpool) that insures the wind 
        peril.
            ``(2) Membership.--The arbitration panel established under 
        paragraph (1) shall be comprised of 5 members.
            ``(3) Required qualifications.--
                    ``(A) Administrative law expertise.--At least 1 
                member of the arbitration panel established under 
                paragraph (1) shall have expertise in administrative 
                law.
                    ``(B) Water resources expertise.--At least 1 member 
                of the arbitration panel established under paragraph 
                (1) shall have expertise in water resources.
                    ``(C) Hurricane modeling expertise.--At least 1 
                member of the arbitration panel established under 
                paragraph (1) shall have expertise in hurricane 
                modeling.
            ``(4) No fema employees.--No member of the arbitration 
        panel established under paragraph (1) may be a current or 
        former employee of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
            ``(5) Independence.--Each member of the arbitration panel 
        established under paragraph (1) shall be independent and 
        neutral.''.
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