17 July 2009
by Jessica Hanson
PCI (BILOXI, MS)—Jessica Hanson of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) reports on the 101st Annual Meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA). This year the annual meeting was held on the Gulf Coast in BILOXI, Mississippi. PCI joined the governors this year for the conference which highlighted emergency preparedness.
“PCI applauds Governor Haley Barbour and the NGA for making emergency preparedness a top priority at this year’s annual meeting,” said David Sampson, president and chief executive officer for PCI. “Balanced insurance public policy at both the federal and state level is critical for natural disaster preparation and recovery. The insurance industry is financially strong and prepared for hurricane season. But we must together begin preparing and building the capacity of the market to pay for losses the nation will face in the future.”
Sampson encouraged the governors to work with insurers to address the following important issues:
Reduce Exposure to Catastrophe Losses
“State and local governments should enact and enforce responsible building codes and discourage irresponsible development in unsafe areas through better land use regulation,” said Sampson. PCI supports stronger building codes as one of the most effective ways to prevent storm damage and urges states to improve outdated and inconsistent requirements for building codes and code enforcement.
Fix the National Flood Insurance Program
“The NFIP is critically important to Americans and the U.S. economy, and we urge Congress to make the necessary reforms to meet the needs of individuals and businesses across the country.”
State and Federal Government Involvement
“Many states along the Gulf and Atlantic coastlines have residual insurance markets for high risk home and business owners along the coast. These state-run property insurance providers play an important role in these markets. But experience in some states show that there are dangerous and costly results when a state-backed coastal insurer is underfunded and unprepared for a catastrophic risk.”
Numerous states including, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina, Florida, and Texas are implementing strategies to mitigate climate risk. Some of these strategies include:
- Encouraging private capital to insure the state through balanced policies.
- Reducing potential for massive insolvency in state-run insurance corporations, and reducing exposure of state catastrophe funds.
- Reforming state legislation to assure market stability and provide assessment caps for insurers.
- Promoting stronger homes through mitigation.
Source: http://www.pciaa.net/ (Reliability 7 )
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