Over the past year, the U.S. has seen how climate-driven disasters threaten lives and livelihoods, from the devastating hurricanes Ian and Fiona in Florida and Puerto Rico to catastrophic rainfall flooding in California. These types of acute climate shocks cause disproportionate harm to people with low-income and people of color, driven by housing and planning policies that concentrate populations in areas of risk, lack of investment in resilient infrastructure and building stock, and barriers to accessing disaster recovery dollars.
Insurance is one key tool for financial protection from the economic shocks of disasters. However, despite a relatively robust insurance market in the US, many people most in need of economic resources for recovery face a disaster insurance system that is inaccessible, unaffordable, and not designed for their needs. A new report recently published by Ceres offers a roadmap for how local, state, and federal regulators and policymakers can improve the disaster insurance system to make it more inclusive.