Connecticut Releases Survey On Climate Risk In The Insurance Industry

By Staff Reports

Previously one of six states nationally conducting the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Climate Risk Disclosure Survey of insurers, the Connecticut Insurance Department has worked with their counterparts in other states in the Northeast, leading the way for eight additional states to join this year in requiring insurers to respond to the survey.

The survey allows insurers to report on climate-related risks and opportunities that provide the Department with additional information to evaluate insurance company risks and activities.

“Connecticut has over $750 billion worth of insured coastal property and the value of that coastal property compared to all insured property is second only to Florida,” Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais said. “To prepare to meet these significant challenges, the survey will provide data to better understand these growing threats and protect consumers from climate-related loss.”

As a mechanism for reporting insurance related risk, the Climate Risk Disclosure survey enables insurers to evaluate the steps they’ve taken to engage with policy holders over climate change.

This year fifteen states across the country have joined Connecticut in requesting survey responses from insurers with $100 million or more in premiums. The list of participating state’s Insurance Departments continues to grow with several additional states anticipated to join this initiative in the coming months.

The survey asks insurers eight questions to assess strategy and preparedness in several areas, including emissions/carbon footprint, investment, mitigation, financial solvency, and customer engagement. CID sent the survey to Connecticut-domiciled insurers who collected more than $100M in direct written premium during the 2020 reporting year.

Previous year’s survey responses are available to the public and can be found online. Presently, the survey captures the responses from more than 1,000 insurance companies, representing more than 70% of the U.S. insurance market, 75% of those who responded have assessed the impact of climate change and identified climate risks.