EP 621 Disaster Insurance Becoming A Must In an Age of Natural Disasters

The frequency of and intensity of natural disasters–such as wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and storms–are on the rise, threatening the lives, homes and possessions of so many.  While lives are torn apart in the wake of these sudden and unpredictable events, there are things that people can do to better prepare for what daily seems more inevitable in many places, not just America’s coastlines. So how do you insure yourself against at least the property loss? In ‘Understanding Disaster Insurance”, disaster risk expert Carolyn Kousky walks us through the complex process of transferring risk given that many people do not read the fine print of their homeowner’s insurance and may think, in error, that they are covered for things like floods.  There are many products you can buy and new ones being developed.  With that said, these protections will continue to get costlier and less available when companies see risk where you live moving from possible to certain, as is the case in parts of Florida, California, Louisiana and elsewhere.  Governments have been stepping in to provide insurance as a last resort, but their participation may continue to grow as the climate crisis and other factors persist.

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