Extreme Weather Events and Insurance: Households, Homeowners, and Risk

Financial losses due to extreme weather events are increasing. Insurers, states, and the federal government are all part of an extensive insurance and recovery system in the United States. Homeowners, landlords, utilities, infrastructure managers, and others all absorb some portion of risk of loss due to extreme weather. This system is becoming financially unsustainable and unable to appropriately respond to the current risk landscape. The way to repair the system may appear to be a straightforward economic solution, but the range of responses in terms of how to share and mitigate risk are driven by a mix of business interests, policy, household economics, individual risk perception and tolerance, and shared community attitudes.

The first in this webinar series focused on households and homeowners, considering the insurance crisis for property owners, risk tolerance, what drives decisions about where people choose to live, and community dynamics that can help or hinder risk mitigation, adaptation, and disaster preparedness.