President Barack Obama has signed the “Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2012” into law, according to a story in the Insurance Journal. The law extends the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five years and makes reforms to the program.

The Senate and House passed legislation in late June as part of a conference report package along with the Surface Transportation Act of 2012 and an extension of the Federal Direct Stafford Student Loan program.

The legislation that will extend the NFIP for five years, until Sept. 30, 2017, It also calls for reforms including phasing out subsidies for many properties, raising the cap on annual premium increases from 10 percent to 20 percent, allowing multifamily properties to purchase NFIP policies, imposing minimum deductibles for flood claims, requiring the NFIP administrator to develop a plan for repaying the debt incurred from Hurricane Katrina, and establishing a technical mapping advisory council to deal with map modernization issues.

Read the full story in the Insurance Journal by clicking here.