As the recent hurricane in the US has just reminded us, flooding is a natural catastrophe risk that is especially troubling, and it’s one facedby many property owners around the world, from the UK to Canada, and Southeast Asia to Australia.With the effects of climate change already making themselves known, thisrisk is only likely to worsen.

According to the Swiss Re Institute, rising temperatures have resulted in more frequent extreme rainfall events during hurricanes and severe convective storms, and inland flooding in urban areas is becoming a major driver of losses as,through urbanization, societies are extending into flood-prone areas.

In spite of this risk, noted Swiss Re, “A significant share of flood exposures globally remain uninsured. China has the biggest flood protection gap, but a number of flood risks in mature markets such as the US, Canada, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands are uninsured also. In the US, it is estimated that two-thirds of annual expected losses from flood events are uninsured.”

Closing these insurance gaps is proving to be a challenge since flood insurance markets around the world…

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