An Underinsured, Uninsured World

Man-made and natural catastrophic events are occurring more frequently and are increasing in severity, prompting significant financial costs and hardship for people, businesses, communities and countries. 

Homeowners are finding their homes flooded, when they had no idea there was any threat of flooding. Flooding has become the “new fire”. Temperatures are rising, extreme weather events are common and new terms like, “atmospheric rivers” are now used to describe biblical-like extreme weather events. 

The staggering level of underinsurance or no insurance that places terrible strain on otherwise taxed economies, communities, businesses and households contributes to what is known as the Global Protection Gap.

“The protection gap, or the difference between economic and insured losses, results in an enormous cost to society when disasters do occur. This cost is ultimately borne by both governments and individuals, and continually threatens the resilience and economic well-being of developing nations,” according to AIR, part of the Verisk Analytics family of companies that does catastrophe modeling for risk management. 

Having spent my career in insurance and risk management, I have watched what continues to unfold at an alarmingly accelerating rate with a high level of concern and a sense of responsibility to do my little part in raising awareness about the Global Protection Gap  with as many people as possible. 

The catastrophic risks now facing humanity, businesses and communities are staggering. In addition to extreme weather events other significant and catastrophic events include:  seismic, pandemic, cyber, terrorism, social unrest, pestilence infestations to name just a few. Now more than ever governments around the world, starting with the G20, must act to collaborate and partner with one another, the scientific community, re/insurers and other financial organizations to address the Global Protection Gap. Through public and private sector partnership and collaboration, the world can be better prepared, protected and more resilient.  

Collaboration and formal partnerships between nations and industry are critical and are proactive steps towards creating solutions for the world’s uninsured and underinsured and in so doing will ultimately close the Global Protection Gap.