Flood is the most pervasive and frequent peril in the U.S. Yet, despite having the world’s highest non-life premium volume and one of the highest insurance penetration rates, a significant protection gap still exists in the U.S. for this peril.
Executive Summary
As the journey toward a private flood insurance market progresses, insurers and reinsurers can learn a lot from the recent U.S. flood events to help develop profitable flood risk management strategies.It is well-known that U.S. flood risk is primarily driven by tropical cyclone-related events, with storm surge being the main cause. In the last decade alone, flooding from tropical cyclones have caused more than $40 billion (2015 USD) in insured losses and contributed to today’s massive $23 billion National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) deficit: 13 out of the top 15 flood events, determined by total NFIP payouts, were related to storm surge-driven coastal flooding from tropical cyclones.
