dr. sampson. we appreciate your testimony and we will have questions after we get done with the testimony of the other panelists. but thank you for your perspective and for your testimony. next we have mr. john a. jensen. serves as government affairs committee chairman of the independent insurance agents and brokers of america. and as president of corel insurance group. he is currently the south carolina national director for independent insurance agents and brokers in america. he is a past chairman of the independent insurance brokers of america. want to welcome you today, mr. jensen. you may proceed with your testimony. >> thank you very much. good morning, chairman tester and ranking member vitter. i am pleased to be here today on behalf of the independent insurance brokers of america or the big i to present our perspective on the extension and reform of the nfip. we commend the subcommittee for looking at is this very important issue. i am president of corel insurance group which is an agency

dr. sampson? >> they've already started. >> why don't you describe some of that and when that starts. >> 60 days out from the expiration of the program insurers are required to notify holders of policies that the coverage is going to be ending. and then, as i said, it has a cascading -- lawyer the lapse, there is this whole cascading series of very complicated brejing tlans actions that add no value. but onlies could and uncertainty to the -- >> you have the national flood insurance program actively advertising the nfip on television, to increase the takeup rate, which is the socially responsible thing to do, yet everyone who has a policy knows the number of disruptions that we've experienced over the last several years. and so we're really sending cross signals here and these lapses are causing companies to exit the program and i'm convinced that these continual lapses create such uncertainty in the policyholder that it reduces and suppresses the takeup rate and the renewal rate. >> i seem part o

dr. david a. sampson is the president and ceo of bci, which represents more than 1,000 homeowners, autos, and business insurance companies that rate over 30% of this nation's property and casualty insurance. dr. sampson also served in the george w. bush administration. as deputy secretary of the u.s. department of congress and assistant secretary of commerce for economic development. welcome, dr. samson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it's a pleasure to be with you today. i appreciate your leadership on this issue. and for the invitation to be here. pci and its members who write about 52% of all the flood insurance through the nfip write your own coalition program. it doesn't just affect one part of the nation. flooding occurs all across the country. and we fully support your efforts to pass bipartisan legislation that includes a long-term authorization and meaningful reforms. i'd like to just emphasize three key points in my testimony today. first, it is vitally important to avoid another lapse in the nfip

dr. sampson or mr. jensen either the two were that all of the freakin' document this but the solvency of the program, could you discuss some areas where reform of this bill is important to the constituencies that you represent, what else does it provide? >> thank you, senator. in addition to the reform as you mentioned there are some issues with increasing the maximum coverage limits. currently the coverage leverett on the home is for full of the elite of love lost hundred $50,000. that is increasingly becoming a problem and issue as we see the higher values and homes again. as well, we are looking at business interruption. it's important to know that there is a study called for in the bill that talks about business coverage within the commercial sector. we see if it's very valuable as well. islamic in addition you heard testimony on the previous panel of the folks that were placed in areas that in fact were not in the flood plain. some of the things that would have been in the streamlining would be the

dr. sampson or mr. jensen or any of you -- could you discuss some areas where reform on this bill is important to the constituencies you represent? what else does it provide? >> thank you, senator. in addition to the reform, as you mentioned, there are issues with increasing maximum coverage limits. currently, the coverage limit on a home for flood loss is $250,000. that is increasingly becoming a problem and an issue as we see higher values in homes again. as well, we are looking at business interruption. it is important to note that there is a study called for in the bill that talks about business interruption coverage within the commercial sector. we think that is very valuable as well. >> in addition, you and heard testimony from folks that were place in areas that were not in the flood plain. some of the things that might happen would be the ability for folks not in those areas to be charged in those areas and have an opportunity to be reimbursed on an expense-basis to the nfip, which would help fo

dr. sampson or mr. jensen or all of you can talk to this, but beyond improving the program, can you discuss some areas where reform on this bill are important to the constituencies that you represent, what else does it provide? >> thank you, senator. in addition to the reform, as you mentioned, there are some issues with increasing maximum coverage limits. currently, the coverage limit on a home is for flood loss is $250,000 as a maximum indemnity limit. that is increasingly becoming a problem and an issue as we see higher values in homes again. as well, we are looking at business interruption, it's important to note that there is a study called for in the bill that talks about business interruption coverage within the commercial sector. we think that's very valuable as well. >> in addition, you heard testimony on the previous panel of folks that were placed in areas that, in fact, were not in a floodplain. some of the things that might happen would be in the streamlining would be the ability for folks