Coastal states are facing a looming economic crisis that will be triggered by the next major natural hurricane. It doesn’t take an expert to see the financial train wreck ahead if we don’t change how we prepare for and recover from hurricanes. Our plan, the Coastal Catastrophe Partnership, calls for frank talk and collective effort to develop a long-term solution. We want to see risk put back on private insurers, like The Hartford, and away from responsible taxpayers.
To do this, a partnership must do five things in harmony:
- Require states to enforce tough building codes and land use planning;
- Encourage homeowners to take action to mitigate damage;
- Allow private insurers to reflect the true risk of insurance in their rates;
- Provide federal reinsurance for extreme – 1-in-100 year – storms;
- Offer publicly-funded assistance to low income coastal homeowners who cannot afford corresponding rate increases.
In the end, we believe homeowners will be best served by an active private insurance market with different companies competing for their business. Creating a healthy, competitive market is the ultimate goal of this plan.
To read the full Coastal Catastrophe Partnership plan, download this PDF.
