Flood insurance market's growth potential rises, research finds

With rising flood losses, insurers' appetite for flood risks is also rising, according to a report by the Swiss Re Institute, an arm of the reinsurer which draws from its risk knowledge to produce research.

The report found that $80 billion in global insured flood losses from 2011-2020 represented a doubling over the previous decade, and that total flood losses from 2011-2021 were $99 billion.

Direct flood premiums in the private market have increased 20.5% since 2016, according to the report. Although private market premiums were about $2 billion in 2021, which is less than the $4.7 billion U.S. National Flood Insurance Program., Swiss Re predicts the private market's potential ranges from $37 billion to $47 billion.  

"Despite the private flood insurance market gaining traction over the last few years, too many people are still not covered for flooding and the majority of those impacted by these events are uninsured, leaving them to pick up the pieces at their own expense," said Keith Wolfe, president of US P&C at Swiss Re, in a statement. 

Even as only 18% of global economic losses from floods were covered from 2011-2021, household take-up rates for flood insurance remain low, at 4%. In the U.S., nearly 40% of the population lives in coastal counties and 10% in floodplains. Plus, as the report states, "rainfall induced inland flooding can happen anywhere, with increasingly severe events driven by soil sealing due to ongoing urbanization and rising temperatures."

Expanding flood insurance to meet the needs, insurers will need robust risk assessment, including high-quality and high-resolution data about locations and properties, according to the report. Insurers will need to raise awareness of flooding risks among consumers, agents and real estate brokers who serve as distribution partners to insurers.

"This business can now be underwritten with greater confidence than ever before thanks to significantly improved modeling," Wolfe said. "Flood risk is in a lot more places than your mortgage company tells you. Every insurance agent needs to understand what is available in the private market to offer the broadest set of options to our woefully underinsured community members."