Disaster Insurance, Underinsured and Uninsured Problem Area
Disaster Insurance, Underinsured and Uninsured Problem Area : "The 2005 hurricanes made clear that, even with the federal and state natural catastrophe insurance programs, significant numbers of Americans lacked adequate insurance against natural catastrophes for their homes. These property owners were either uninsured or underinsured, for a variety of reasons. Perhaps most significantly, buying natural catastrophe insurance is in many cases voluntary, and homeowners may choose not to buy it because they do not understand their risk exposure, do not understand the protection catastrophe insurance offers, or cannot afford it. In some cases, homeowners have insurance, but it covers less than the full replacement value of their property or has other policy limitations. Underinsurance can be exacerbated following a natural catastrophe, when rebuilding costs can increase substantially. Uninsured and underinsured homeowners may compound the challenge of providing affordable natural catastrophe insurance by relying on the federal government for postdisaster assistance to rebuild their homes. These homeowners may seek federal disaster relief from several federal agencies, including grants from FEMA and HUD, and real property loans from SBA. As we found, a significant portion of post-Katrina payments to Americans have gone to homeowners who were inadequately insured. We estimated that a quarter to a third of all federal emergency appropriations after the 2005 hurricanes, or around $26 billion in grants and loans, was obligated to homeowners and renters who lacked adequate natural catastrophe insurance". (GAO, Natural Disasters: Public Policy Options, Nov, 2007, 6)
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