Pennsylvania Joining National Survey on Climate Risk in the Insurance Industry

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) is joining with other states around the country in conducting the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Climate Risk Disclosure Survey. The survey allows insurers to report on climate-related risks and opportunities and will provide PID with an additional tool in evaluating insurance company risks and activities.

“Climate change is implicated in so many extreme weather patterns across the country, including heat waves, flooding, wildfires, just to name a few, and these types of events can lead to devastating losses,” Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman said in a PID press release. “The health and well-being of our citizens and the insurance industry depends on us being prepared to meet these challenges. This survey is a significant step in that direction, as it will allow us to better understand these growing threats, and better protect consumers against potential future losses.”

The Climate Risk Disclosure Survey was developed in 2010 to provide regulators, insurers and other stakeholder with information on the risks that insurers face from climate change and outline the steps that they are taking to face those challenges.

Pennsylvania joins California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington in requesting survey participation of insurers with $100 million or more in premiums. Several additional states are expected to join the survey for the 2020 reporting year.

The survey asks insurers eight questions to assess strategy and preparedness in several areas, including emissions/carbon footprint, investment, mitigation, financial solvency and customer engagement. PID sent the survey to Pennsylvania-domiciled insurers that wrote more than $100M in premium during 2020 on July 22. Responses are requested by August 31.

Previous year’s survey responses are available to the public and can be found on the California Department of Insurance website. Presently, the survey captures the responses from more than 1,000 insurance companies, representing more than 70% of the U.S. insurance market.

“The 2020 survey results found that 75% of insurance companies have identified current or anticipated risks that climate change poses to them,” Altman said in the release. “This number is not insubstantial and shows that we must remain vigilant in assessing the dangers that climate change poses to us all.”

Source: Pennsylvania Insurance Department

Topics Trends Pennsylvania Climate Change Market