Climate change has been on our collective radar for decades. But only in recent years has it come to be seen as an existential threat— not only to our planet and the people who live on it, but more specifically to the insurance industry, which exists to protect individuals from unexpected emergencies and damage to their property, homes, bodies, and more— all which are at greater risk due to climate change. How can the insurance industry meet the needs of the moment for its policyholders while still protecting its bottom line? This is the driving question of our report, Shifting Ground: Climate Change and Homeowners Insurance.
The report, based on qualitative research conducted with homeowners from across the country who have been impacted by climate change, digs into how homeowners perceive risks related to climate change, what role they expect insurance to play in protecting them, and puts forward opportunities for insurance and principles for the industry at large regarding how to better support homeowners in this new climate reality and cultivate climate resilience.
“For too long the insurance industry has conceived of homeowners insurance as simply a matter of covering claims,” explained Josh Levine, Cake & Arrow founder and CEO. “But in the new climate reality, in which climate-related disasters are no longer the exception but the norm, homeownership is changing. Homeowners are looking for a partner, not just to cover them in case something happens to their home, but to help them better mitigate the risks of climate change in the first place–long before a claim is filed. So much of the industry conversation right now is focused on risk mitigation for the insurance industry, not its customers, when in fact, the industry is missing an important opportunity to work with homeowners to make them ‘better risks,” which, if they can succeed, will be a win-win for the industry and its policyholders. ”
For more homeowner stories, insights from our research, and tangible opportunities for the insurance industry to better support homeowners through climate change, download the full report: https://go.cakeandarrow.com/climate-change-and-homeowners-insurance
