US Home Insurance Still Priced Too Low for Climate Risk, Says Swiss Re Chair

"Jacques de Vaucleroy said despite recent increases, premiums will have to climb further to encourage risk aversion."

"This has been a year of insurance sticker shock in the US. But the man who provides insurance to insurers thinks maybe the shock still isn’t enough to steer people away from risk in a changing climate.

“There is not a lot of action yet, not enough,” Jacques de Vaucleroy, chairman of Swiss Re, said in a recent interview at the company’s Manhattan offices. Homes are still being built in places they shouldn’t be, he noted, and often grandly at that. Premiums relative to the potential payout for a claim are still acceptable for many consumers, he added.

Such a view might infuriate homeowners in Florida, where the average premium has topped $5,000 and where more than 1 million residents have turned to the state-backed insurer of last resort because they can’t find or afford a policy on the private market. But reinsurers like Swiss Re have a more global view."

Leslie Kaufman reports for Bloomberg Green July 1, 2024.

Source: Bloomberg Green, 07/02/2024