Facts + Statistics: Flood insurance

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Flood damage is excluded under standard homeowners and renters insurance policies. However, flood coverage is available as a separate policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and from many private insurers. Industry observers note that many properties that should have flood coverage do not. According to a 2020 Triple-I Consumer poll, 27 percent of homeowners said they had flood insurance--a record high, but higher than NFIP estimates. Homeowners may not fundamentally understand what flood coverage is and how it works.

 
Top 10 Most Significant Flood Events By National Flood Insurance Program Payouts (1)

 

Rank Date Event Number of
paid losses		 Amount paid
($ millions)		 Average
paid loss
1 Aug. 2005 Hurricane Katrina 168,256 $16,092  $95,640 
2 Sep. 2017 Hurricane Harvey 78,254 9,171 117,192
3 Oct. 2012 Superstorm Sandy 132,897 8,619 64,852
4 Sep. 2008 Hurricane Ike 47,247 2,670 56,517
5 Aug. 2016 Louisiana severe storms and flooding 27,737 2,536 91,432
6 Sep. 2004 Hurricane Ivan 31,981 1,688 52,791
7 Sep. 2021 Hurricane Ida 28,544 1,589 55,658
8 Sep. 2004 Hurricane Jeanne 31,486 1,513 48,062
9 Aug. 2011 Hurricane Irene 44,178 1,321 29,894
10 Sep. 2017 Hurricane Irma 23,119 1,153 49,884

(1) Includes events from 1978 to December 31, 2021 as of March 9, 2022. Defined by the National Flood Insurance Program as an event that produces at least 1,500 paid losses. Stated in dollars when occurred.

Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data; analysis courtesy of Aon.

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Private flood insurance

 
Private Flood Insurance, 2016-2021

($000)

Year Net premiums
written (1)		 Annual percent
change		 Combined
ratio (2)		 Annual point
change (3)
2016 $277,819.0 NA 93.8 NA
2017 470,961.0 69.5% 186.1 92.3 pts.
2018 540,875.0 14.8 55.0 -131.1
2019 287,197.0 -46.9 58.5 3.5
2020 302,444.0 5.3 50.7 -7.8
2021 506,820.0 67.6 66.5 15.8

(1) After reinsurance transactions, excludes state funds and premiums written by private insurers participating in the National Flood
Insurance Program's Write Your Own program.
(2) After dividends to policyholders. A drop in the combined ratio represents an improvement; an increase represents a deterioration.
(3) Calculated from unrounded numbers.

NA=Data not available.

Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.

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Top 10 Writers Of Private Flood Insurance By Direct Premiums Written, 2022 (1)

($000)

Rank Group/company Direct premiums written (2) Market share (3)
1 American International Group (AIG) $173,244 42.2%
2 Zurich Insurance Group 147,805 11.9
3 Assurant Inc. 120,520 9.71
4 AXA 117,210 9.4
5 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 101,830 8.2
6 Swiss Re Ltd. 72,549 5.9
7 Sompo 71,000 5.7
8 Liberty Mutual 70,910 5.7
9 Chubb 48,238 3.9
10 Allstate Corp. 44,280 3.6

(1) Private flood includes both commercial and private residential coverage, primarily first-dollar standalone policies that cover the flood peril and excess flood. Excludes sewer/water backup and the crop flood peril.
(2) Before reinsurance transactions.
(3) Based on U.S. total, includes territories.

Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.

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Coastal State Storm Surge And Hurricane Wind Risk

 
U.S. Storm Surge Risk, Gulf and Atlantic States, 2022

 

  Single-family residential
homes potentially affected (1)		 Multi-family residential
homes potentially affected (2)
Storm surge risk level (3)
(Storm category)		 Number of units Number of units
Category 1 1,281,273 40,426
Category 2 2,741,505 94,745
Category 3 4,436,484 156,948
Category 4 6,419,157 234,200
Category 5 7,527,853 258,821

(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.
(3) The risk categories are cumulative and increase in value from Category 1 to Category 5. Category 1 represents the higher risk of damage from a weak hurricane; Category 5 includes Categories 1 to 4 and the low risk of damage from a Category 5 hurricane.

Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company. May not be re-sold, republished or licensed to any other source without prior written permission from CoreLogic.

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U.S. Hurricane Wind Risk, Gulf and Atlantic States, 2022

 

  Single-family residential
homes potentially affected (1)		 Multifamily residential
homes potentially affected (2)
Hurricane wind risk level (3) Number of units Reconstruction
cost value (4)
($ billions)		 Number of units Reconstruction
cost value (4)
($ billions)
Extreme 6,316,115 $1,645.9 122,087 $42.1
Very high or greater 14,654,510 $4,024.0 229,077 $85.0
High or greater 22,113,248 $6,697.8 647,060 $327.4
Moderate or greater 31,792,966 $9,976.6 987,727 $519.5

(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.
(3) The risk categories are cumulative and increase in value from extreme to moderate or greater. The moderate or greater wind risk level encompasses all four wind risk levels."
(4) Combines materials, equipment and labor, but does not include the value of the land or lot.

Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company.

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Top 15 Metropolitan Areas At Risk for Storm Surge and Hurricane Wind, 2022

 

  Single-family (1)
    At risk for storm surge     At risk for hurricane wind
Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)		 Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)
1  New York, NY 786,279 $369.9 1  New York, NY 3,814,468 $1,945.5
2 Miami, FL 740,744 183.9 2 Houston, TX 2,032,661 619.8
3 Tampa, FL 555,474 125.9 3 Miami, FL 2,009,913 501.1
4 New Orleans, LA 405,369 124.3 4 Philadelphia, PA 1,924,785 762.9
5 Virginia Beach, VA 397,947 120.1 5 Washington, DC 1,753,336 628.5
6 Cape Coral, FL 330,465 84.4 6 Boston, MA 1,303,433 555.5
7 North Port, FL 293,538 73.4 7 Tampa, FL 1,116,079 275.5
8 Houston, TX 264,461 71.0 8 Baltimore, MD 910,522 283.0
9 Naples, FL 200,276 55.4 9 Virginia Beach, VA 580,825 177.5
10 Jacksonville, FL 194,583 55.4 10 Jacksonville, FL 566,825 157.0
11 Charleston, SC 188,329 61.5 11 Providence, RI 474,328 176.0
12 Myrtle Beach, SC 183,757 41.9 12 Richmond, VA 452,639 150.4
13 Lafayette, LA 148,646 37.1 13 New Orleans, LA 435,865 133.9
14 Baton Rouge, LA 141,932 40.8 14 North Port, FL 386,689 102.0
15 Salisbury, MA 136,220 39.3 15 Hartford, CT 380,080 143.4
  Multi-family (3)
    At risk for storm surge     At risk for hurricane wind
Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)		 Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)
1  New York, NY 109,317 $62.8 1  New York, NY 459,184 $261.8
2 Miami, FL 28,645 8.7 2 Washington, DC 100,532 24.8
3 Boston, MA 26,640 12.6 3 Boston, MA 82,249 55.7
4 Tampa, FL 14,271 4.9 4 Miami, FL 61,467 20.1
5 Cape Coral, FL 13,726 4.1 5 Philadelphia, PA 59,237 34.3
6 New Orlean, LA 6,626 4.4 6 Providence, RI 33,577 24.6
7 Savannah, GA 4,470 2.2 7 Tampa, FL 26,324 8.7
8 Virginia Beach, VA 4,286 1.8 8 Houston, TX 18,092 6.2
9 Jacksonville, FL 4,219 1.8 9 Cape Coral, FL 14,579 4.3
10 Philadelphia, PA 3,449 1.5 10 Portland, ME 14,370 6.2
11 Deltona, FL 3,378 1.0 11 Baltimore, MD 12,340 4.1
12 North Port, FL 3,330 1.1 12 Hartford, CT 11,308 9.2
13 Providence, RI 2,775 2.0 13 New Haven, CT 10,943 7.6
14 Naples, FL 2,498 1.0 14 Jacksonville, FL 8,602 3.5
15 Baltimore, MD 2,126 0.5 15 Bridgeport, CT 7,733 6.0

(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Combines materials, equipment and labor, but does not include the value of the land or lot.
(3) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.

Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company.

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Atlantic And Gulf Coast States Ranked By Building Codes and Related Factors, 2012 to 2021 (1)

 

Rank State 2012 2015 2018 2021
1 Florida 95 94 95 95
2 Virginia 95 95 94 94
3 South Carolina 84 92 92 92
4 New Jersey 93 89 90 90
5 Connecticut 81 88 89 89
6 Rhode Island 78 87 87 89
7 North Carolina 81 84 83 88
8 Louisiana 73 82 83 82
9 Massachusetts 87 79 81 78
10 Maryland 73 78 78 78
11 Georgia 66 69 68 69
12 New York 60 56 64 60
13 Maine 64 55 54 55
14 New Hampshire 49 48 46 48
15 Texas 18 36 34 34
16 Alabama 18 26 27 30
17 Mississippi 4 28 28 29
18 Delaware 17 17 17 17

(1) Rating based on the current statewide residential building code, the processes in place to ensure uniform code application, state and local enforcement programs, licensing and education of building officials, contractors, and
subcontractors.

Source: Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.

 
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