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Insurance as a tool for hazard risk management? An evaluation of the literature

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Abstract

This paper evaluates the literature about hazard insurance availability and purchase. Hazard insurance has the potential to help individuals and households to prepare for, mitigate risks of, and recover from hazard events, but only insofar as insurance is available to them, and they purchase it. Unfortunately, unique characteristics of hazard risks and evolving conditions caused by climate change limit the availability of hazard insurance, and a variety of factors make individuals and households unlikely to purchase hazard insurance. Implications of these findings are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to gratefully acknowledge Dr. Jessica Jensen for her guidance and assistance in writing this paper. I would also like to thank Samantha Montano, Laura Gould, and John Carr for their helpful comments.

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  1. North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA

    Amanda Savitt

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  1. Amanda Savitt
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Correspondence to Amanda Savitt.

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Savitt, A. Insurance as a tool for hazard risk management? An evaluation of the literature. Nat Hazards 86, 583–599 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2706-1

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