[StBernard] Melancon to back retroactive flood insurance bill

[Westley Annis]

Melancon to back retroactive flood insurance bill

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon said he will co-sponsor
Rep. Gene Taylor's legislation allowing home and business owners without
flood insurance when Hurricane Katrina struck to receive compensation
retroactively through the National Flood Insurance Program. 

Melancon said in a news release that he would help push the legislation. 

As explained by Melancon, the bill would allow property owners who did not
live in flood-plains but were devastated by the hurricanes to be covered
under the National Flood Insurance Program. They would have to pay the
equivalent of 10 years of NFIP premiums, with a five percent penalty.
Premiums would be set at a rate equal to the prevailing premium charged in
the area prior to Hurricane Katrina. 

Melancon says the legislation also permits property owners to deduct premium
payments and the penalty from the NFIP claim payment. 

Bob Durrin, a NFIP specialist who has been on the Mississippi coast to
provide claim statements for those who have flood insurance, said Taylor's
plan is "essentially retroactive coverage.''