Be mindful of Insurance Companies that write in multiple states. They re-coup their losses from ALL policyholders in premium. Sometimes, Bigger is NOT Better…. Moral of the story… Stay away from the top 5.
Very hard to figure how New York ranks so low on this list given that they got pounded by Sandy, Irene, and Lee, just to name a few in the past few years. Sandy is one of the worst natural disasters of all time and NYC probably had the greatest share of that loss. Plus, NY has its share of flooding, winter/ice storms, and occasional, but thankfully small, EQ’s. Would like to see those calculations.
I am always bemused by these reports. They seem to be based on the idea that bad news sells newspapers.
They seem to overlook the way insurace actualy works: perhaps the author does not know that:
Flood, including storm surge is covered mostly by NFIP (the US Govt) and excluded from most commercial insurance policies
The areas of Florida (and other big states such as California) have different topography and thus different exposure to perils.
For example: South Florida may be exposed to Wind (last one was 2005) but not really windfire or Sink Hole
North Central Florida has a higher exposure to sinkhole (rare in South Florida) but No history of significant wind damage.
Fire MAY be a peril parts in rural NW Florida piney woods but not so much in most of pennisular Florida.
Combining these into a sigle number by state is meaningless, and it reflectes poorly on the Insurance journal that they choose to publish this
The score is based on geo-coding, so could be useful (to a degree) at a specific location. To look at the scores on a statewide basis is of little value.
Why is Texas, so exposed to hurricanes and tornados, only ranked 14th? Probably because it’s so large and much of west Texas is less exposed. The statewide score is a weighted average.
Why is Rhode Island, hotbed of natural disaster, ranked 2nd? Probably because virtually the entire state is coastal, so the weighted average is pretty high. But having said that, the frequency in RI, unless I’m missing something, is not all that great. Same with Massachusetts, much of which is less exposed (though there was a bad tornado in Springfield a few years back).
It would be good to see the hazard components of each state.
Now how about a map of UNnatural hazards?
If it is UNnatural, then how can we show a map of who might be at risk?
I am continually amazed by how many people want to live on the coast. And they’re the first ones to complain about insurance premiums.
Be mindful of Insurance Companies that write in multiple states. They re-coup their losses from ALL policyholders in premium. Sometimes, Bigger is NOT Better…. Moral of the story… Stay away from the top 5.
Very hard to figure how New York ranks so low on this list given that they got pounded by Sandy, Irene, and Lee, just to name a few in the past few years. Sandy is one of the worst natural disasters of all time and NYC probably had the greatest share of that loss. Plus, NY has its share of flooding, winter/ice storms, and occasional, but thankfully small, EQ’s. Would like to see those calculations.
I am always bemused by these reports. They seem to be based on the idea that bad news sells newspapers.
They seem to overlook the way insurace actualy works: perhaps the author does not know that:
Flood, including storm surge is covered mostly by NFIP (the US Govt) and excluded from most commercial insurance policies
The areas of Florida (and other big states such as California) have different topography and thus different exposure to perils.
For example: South Florida may be exposed to Wind (last one was 2005) but not really windfire or Sink Hole
North Central Florida has a higher exposure to sinkhole (rare in South Florida) but No history of significant wind damage.
Fire MAY be a peril parts in rural NW Florida piney woods but not so much in most of pennisular Florida.
Combining these into a sigle number by state is meaningless, and it reflectes poorly on the Insurance journal that they choose to publish this
H S Toby Turner, CIC
The score is based on geo-coding, so could be useful (to a degree) at a specific location. To look at the scores on a statewide basis is of little value.
Why is Texas, so exposed to hurricanes and tornados, only ranked 14th? Probably because it’s so large and much of west Texas is less exposed. The statewide score is a weighted average.
Why is Rhode Island, hotbed of natural disaster, ranked 2nd? Probably because virtually the entire state is coastal, so the weighted average is pretty high. But having said that, the frequency in RI, unless I’m missing something, is not all that great. Same with Massachusetts, much of which is less exposed (though there was a bad tornado in Springfield a few years back).
It would be good to see the hazard components of each state.