Islander appointed chairman of national task force
Chris Heidrick has been appointed as Chairman of the National Flood Insurance Task Force for the Independent Agents & Brokers of America, the premier association for independent agents representing more than a quarter million agents and their employees in more than 28,000 agency locations throughout the United States.
Heidrick is the principal of Heidrick & Co. Insurance in Sanibel.
In this new position, Heidrick will also serve on the Flood Insurance Producers National Committee. The committee is comprised of representatives from various insurance organizations and is dedicated to improving the National Flood Insurance Program through consultation, cooperation and regular communication with the Federal Insurance Administration/FEMA. The group provides expertise to federal policymakers in the areas of flood insurance product design and development, producer education and marketing.
During the past two years, Heidrick has educated local residents and officials on the topic of flood insurance, having presented to local governments, homeowner associations, professional associations and civic groups. In February, Heidrick joined Lee County commissioner Larry Kiker, Sanibel mayor Kevin Ruane and several other Lee County mayors in Washington, D.C., to present suggestions for reasonable flood insurance reform. Most of the ideas presented by the Lee County contingent were included in The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, signed by President Obama in late March. The Act successfully removed the most harmful provisions of Biggert-Waters, which threatened the local economy.
In the coming year, Heidrick’s primary focus will be on a smooth re-authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 2017.
“Over the past two years the NFIP has been thoroughly studied and significantly reformed. Congress needs to allow time for those reforms to work by re-authorizing the NFIP without major changes in 2017,” said Heidrick.
He added: “While 2017 may seem far away, we must remember it took Congress four years to finally agree on the last five-year reauthorization in 2012. A repeat of that debacle would be unacceptable.”
Heidrick, a former insurance company executive, established Heidrick & Co. Insurance in 2010.