Insurance Flood
Miami-Dade, Fla., Sees Flood-Insurance Rate Cuts, Thanks to Resilience Investment
Miami-Dade County, Fla., has become the latest jurisdiction in the hurricane- and flood-prone state to benefit from participation in FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS) – an incentive program that recognizes and encourages floodplain management practices that exceed the minimum requirements of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The county’s new Class 3 rating will result in an estimated $12 million savings annually by giving qualifying residents and business owners in unincorporated parts of the county a 35 percent discount on flood insurance premiums. “This is a huge step forward in resilience for our county,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said after FEMA announced that Miami Dade had leaped ahead two rankings in the flood-risk…
Triple-I Town Hall Amplified Callsto Attack Climate Risk
By Jeff Dunsavage, Senior Research Analyst, Triple-I I’m pleased and proud to have been part of Triple-I’s Town Hall — “Attacking the Risk Crisis” — in Washington, D.C. In an intimate setting at the Mayflower Hotel on November 30, 120-plus attendees got to hear from experts representing insurance, government, academia, nonprofits, and other stakeholder groups on climate risk, what’s being done to address it, and what remains to be done. Triple-I’s first-ever Town Hall was designed as a logical step in its multi-disciplinary, action-oriented effort to change behavior to drive resilience. Capping a year in which headlines about “insurance crises” in several states garnered major media attention, Triple-I and…
Triple-I Town Hall Amplified Callsto Attack Climate Risk
By Jeff Dunsavage, Senior Research Analyst, Triple-I I’m pleased and proud to have been part of Triple-I’s Town Hall — “Attacking the Risk Crisis” — in Washington, D.C. In an intimate setting at the Mayflower Hotel on November 30, 120-plus attendees got to hear from experts representing insurance, government, academia, nonprofits, and other stakeholder groups on climate risk, what’s being done to address it, and what remains to be done. Triple-I’s first-ever Town Hall was designed as a logical step in its multi-disciplinary, action-oriented effort to change behavior to drive resilience. Capping a year in which headlines about “insurance crises” in several states garnered major media attention, Triple-I and…
Weather Risk Isn’t “Someone Else’s Problem,” Triple-I Executive Tells Weather Channel Viewers
Of the findings in Triple-I’s recent report on consumer perceptions of weather risk, the Weather Channel’s experts were most struck by the fact that 60 percent of homeowners said they’d taken no steps to prepare – so, they asked Triple-I Chief Insurance Officer Dale Porfilio for his perspective. Ultimately, Porfilio said, it comes down to perceptions. “Two thirds of the people surveyed said they don’t expect to be affected by weather risk in the next five years,” Porfilio told the Weather Channel. “If you don’t think you’re going to be impacted, why would you prepare with a home evacuation plan or a home inventory?” Of course, anyone who is exposed…
Lawsuits Threatento Swell Ian’s Price tag
Litigation costs could add between $10 billion and $20 billion to insured losses from Hurricane Ian, adding to the woes of Florida’s already struggling homeowners’ insurance market, says Mark Friedlander Triple-I’s corporate communications director. Early estimates put Ian’s insured losses above $50 billion. “Based on the past history of lawsuits following Florida hurricanes and the state’s very litigious environment, we expect a large volume of lawsuits to be filed in the wake of Hurricane Ian,” Friedlander said in an interview with Insurance Business America. Most suits are expected to involve the distinction between flood and windstorm losses. Standard homeowners’ policies exclude flood-related damage from coverage, but differentiating between wind and…
Hurricanes Drive Louisiana Insured Losses, Insurer Insolvencies
Max Dorfman, Research Writer, Triple-I Severe hurricane damage in recent years has led to major losses by writers of Louisiana homeowners’ insurance and to the insolvency of eight insurers. Louisiana homeowners’ insurers had a combined ratio of 461.9 in 2021. Combined ratio represents the difference between claims and expenses paid and premiums collected by insurers. A combined ratio below 100 represents an underwriting profit, and a ratio above 100 represents a loss. With earned premium of nearly $2 billion, the 461.9 combined ratio means the industry experienced a $7.2 billion underwriting loss in 2021. As Triple-I Chief Insurance Officer Dale Porfilio puts it, “It would take 24 years of achieving…
