Federal Flood Insurance Stops Selling on September 30 Unless Congress Acts
During a lapse FEMA cannot write new or renewal policies. Existing policies stay in force to their expiration date plus a 30-day grace period, and claims keep being paid while FEMA has funds.
The short answer
- The National Flood Insurance Program's authority to underwrite and renew policies expires on September 30, 2026.
- During a lapse FEMA cannot issue new or renewal policies. Policies already in force remain active through their expiration dates plus a 30-day grace period, and claims continue to be paid as long as FEMA has funds.
- A seller's NFIP policy can be transferred to a buyer by substituting names, and federal lending regulators have generally suspended the mandatory purchase requirement during past lapses, leaving individual lenders discretion.
- The September 30 date was set by H.R. 5577, the NFIP Extension Act of 2026, which the Congressional Budget Office scored on January 13, 2026 as having no budgetary effect.
The National Flood Insurance Program's authority to write and renew flood insurance policies expires on September 30, 2026. If Congress does not extend it, the program does not disappear - but the part of it that sells coverage stops.
What actually lapses
Three things are separable here, and a lapse treats them differently.
- New and renewal policies: FEMA cannot issue them until the program is reauthorized.
- Policies already in force: they remain active through their expiration dates, plus a 30-day grace period.
- Claims: they continue to be paid for as long as FEMA has funds available.
Private flood insurance sold outside the NFIP is not affected by a lapse at all.
What it does to a house sale
A home in a designated flood zone carrying a federally regulated mortgage normally has to be insured against flood. In a lapse no new policy can be written - but the National Association of Realtors notes that a seller's existing NFIP policy can be assigned to the buyer by substituting the names on it, which keeps coverage in place without issuing anything new. NAR also notes that federal lending regulators have generally suspended the mandatory purchase requirement during a lapse, which leaves individual lenders to decide whether to close a loan on a property in a flood zone without it.
How the September 30 date got there
It was set by H.R. 5577, the NFIP Extension Act of 2026, which moved the program's expiration from January 30, 2026 to September 30, 2026. The Congressional Budget Office scored the bill on January 13, 2026 and found no budgetary effect - zero impact on direct spending, revenues and deficits across 2026, 2026-2030 and 2026-2035.
Why it matters
Flood is the peril a standard homeowners policy excludes, and for a large share of exposed properties the NFIP is the only place the coverage comes from. September 30 is a date on which the program stops selling, not a date on which existing coverage evaporates - a distinction that matters most to anyone whose policy renews, or whose purchase closes, in early October.
Sources
- FAQ: National Flood Insurance Program Expires September 30, 2026 — National Association of Realtors
- Cost estimate for H.R. 5577, NFIP Extension Act of 2026 — Congressional Budget Office
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