Given the recent flooding, hurricanes and earthquakes, it appears the number of catastrophic events that inflict mass casualties and severe economic losses has increased — so much so that Dr. Erwann Michel-Kerjan, managing director of the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center in Pennsylvania, says the world has entered into a “new era of catastrophes” that will redefine the insurance industry.
“For many years, people had the very reassuring assumption … about extreme events … that we’ll maybe see a major catastrophe every 20 to 25 years. That was very reassuring in the sense that you really don’t have to pay attention to that every day,” he said. “The conventional wisdom that these extreme events are of low priority [doesn’t hold true] in the world where we’re more interdependent with each other.”
As proof, Michel-Kerjan suggests looking at first decade of the 21st century. There were the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, followed by the anthrax crisis, followed by the SARS epidemic, blackouts in New York and on the East Coast in which 50 million people were affected in just a few seconds, the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, terrorism attacks in the United Kingdom, Hurricanes William, Rita and Katrina, a major earthquake in 2008 in China that killed nearly 50,000 people only a few weeks after a major cyclone killed more than 100,000 in Myanmar, the financial crisis, earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, the BP oil spill, Japan’s earthquake and tsunami and nuclear issue, and now significant tornadoes and flooding across the United States. Read more: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2011/05/10/197839.htm
Earthquake and flood coverage is not be covered under your Homeowners or Renters insurance policies. If you are thinking about reevaluating your coverage, contact Cliff Cottam Insurance for a free consultation (800) 807-6871. Or, request an online earthquake or flood insurance quote today! We would be happy to discuss all of your options.