Insurance and Mother Nature: How does losing insurance options affect disaster philanthropy?

Insurance is an incredibly helpful resource for families after a disaster, but not everyone can afford it. Many mortgage brokers and banks require insurance to approve home loans. Increasingly, insurance companies cannot keep up with the impact of multiple climate crises, leaving many homeowners facing substantial increases or turning to state-run insurance plans.

Florida, California, Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oregon, Colorado and Arizona are just a few of the states facing an insurance crisis. As climate change leads to more frequent and bigger disasters, the number of states implicated will continue to increase. What are the solutions? Are our state-run insurance plans sufficient, or do we need more national insurance programs like the National Flood Insurance Program? What is the role of funders in helping to fill the affordability gap?

CDP hosted a webinar to discuss the insurance crisis and the role of philanthropy in helping fill the gap. CDP’s Midwest Early Recovery Fund Director, Cari Cullen, moderated the discussion with the following panelists:

• Amy Bach, Co-founder and Executive Director, United Policyholders
• Carolyn Kousky, Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy, Environmental Defense Fund, and Author

This webinar was co-sponsored by Giving Compass, Philanthropy New York and Philanthropy California.

Please see the slide deck, read the recap on Giving Compass and watch the webinar recording to learn more:

Photo: Vlad Deep on Unsplash