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The purpose of this research study is to determine whether flood-damaged residences located in the USA are remaining unrepaired because of the lack of flood insurance coverage. Unrepaired flooded dwellings are subsequently being foreclosed with mortgage-insurance claims being paid to lenders. This paper aims to examine if weather events that cause flooding impact the losses suffered by mortgage insurers and homeowners.

Two fully modified least squares regression models are done using losses experienced by two mortgage insurance companies. The AM Best insurance rating information for a 16-year period or years 2002–2017 is used to study whether the loss ratios experienced by two companies underwriting private mortgage insurance (PMI) are statistically correlated to National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claim levels. The assumption is that higher flood insurance claims are a proxy for more severe weather events during a particular year which results in flooding that damage residences.

The NFIP claims coefficient is positive and significant for both companies being examined. This indicates that the more serious the flooding event during a specific year, the higher the losses experienced by the private mortgage insurer. The R² results for the regression models were 0.673–0.695. The income variable has a negative coefficient which was significant. It indicates that falling income lead to rising mortgage insurer losses. The NFIP variable was significant with a positive coefficient.

The mortgage insurance industry is dominated by several companies at any point in time. During the 16-year study period, some companies have become insolvent, merged with other companies or recently started underwriting mortgage insurance. One company was diversified writing multiple lines of property insurance. There were only two insurers with complete financial information for the specified study period.

There are currently five mortgage insurers operating in the USA. A serious flood event could cause the insolvency of some of these companies. This would reduce the competition existing in the default insurance market. The financial markets for real estate loans price mortgages based on the availability and the ability to secure mortgage insurance for high loan-to-value properties. There is federal mortgage insurance available for certain types of residential loans.

There are a limited number of insurers writing flood insurance. These companies can pick or reject dwellings and/or commercial properties to underwrite for insurance. The goal of phasing out insurance through the NFIP may prove impossible to achieve. A flood event without insurance would cause serious financial consequences to property owners, loan delinquencies and could depress the local economy for years. Competition from private mortgage insurers may intensify the adverse selection already being experienced by the NFIP. Private insurers would select the lower risk flood applications leaving the more risky insurance to be covered by the NFIP.

Prior research focused on financial variables impacting PMI and weather factors affecting flood insurance claims. Financial ratios published in the AM Best rating guide for the USA and Canada were used to examine whether or not PMI losses are indirectly affected by flooding events as measured by NFIP variable. Comparing two separate lines of insurance and their impact on each other has not been studied by prior researchers.

Novel micro‐insurance schemes are emerging to help the poor better deal with droughts and other disasters. Climate change is projected to increase the intensity and frequency of disasters and is already adding stress to actual and potential clients of these schemes. As well, insurers and reinsurers are increasingly getting worried about increasing claim burdens and the robustness of their pricing given changing risks. The purpose of this paper is to review and suggest ways to methodologically tackle the challenges regarding the assessment of drought risk and the viability of index‐based insurance arrangements in the light of changing risks and climate change.

Based on novel modeling approaches, the authors take supply as well as demand side perspectives by combining risk analysis with regional climate projections and linking this to household livelihood modeling and insurance pricing. Two important examples in Malawi and India are discussed, where such schemes have been or are about to be implemented.

The authors find that indeed micro‐insurance instruments may help low‐income farming households better manage drought risk by smoothing livelihoods and reducing debt, thus avoiding poverty traps. Yet, also many obstacles to optimal design, viability and affordability of these schemes, are encountered. One of those is climate change and the authors find that changing drought risk under climate change would pose a threat to the viability of micro‐insurance, as well as the livelihoods of people requesting such contracts.

The findings and suggestions may corroborate the case for donor support for existing or emerging insurance arrangements helping the poor better cope with climate variability and change. Furthermore, a closer linkage between climate and global change models with insurance and risk management models should be established in the future, which could be beneficial for both sides.

In the UK, responses to intense weather events regarding national and regional level perils include the support of a General Insurance policy at the address level as part of private residential and other insurance policies covering the key risks of flooding, subsidence and windstorm. In respect of the subsidence peril, dry summers can lead to many thousands of properties on shrinkable clay soils suffering differential downward movement as water is abstracted from the soil by vegetation. These events are forecast to increase in frequency and severity due to climate change, with costs for a dry event year of more than £500m to UK insurers. Assessing the character of these event years can inform government, local government, insurers and their agents as to the typical characteristics of an event year and its impacts. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the 2018 UK subsidence event year as it relates to trees and low rise buildings.

The research material is taken from claims that originated within the period commencing in the Summer of 2018, which in the UK was dry and with high levels of claim notification, and is from the private database of Property Risk Inspection Limited, one of the largest UK specialist subsidence claims handling businesses.

The data clearly illustrates the wide range of vegetative species causing or contributing to claims in the UK, their age ranges, sizes and conditions, management options and the range of land uses and statutory controls that exist in relation to title and other boundaries.

There have been various small-scale studies looking at individual cases of subsidence and the impacts of vegetation, but there have been no detailed investigations of large-scale claims-driven events such as the 2018 surge. The importance of this population-level investigation will only increase given the modelling for increased hot and dry summers over the coming decades.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Purpose: The scope of this research is to conduct a study on the perceived effectiveness of developments in InsurTech, by determining online use integration in the Maltese insurance market.

Methodology: To do this, the authors employed a self-administered questionnaire to which 471 participants responded on a 5-point Likert scale. We subjected the data collected from this questionnaire to statistical analysis, specifically, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and multiple linear analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26.

Results: EFA loaded best on five factors of insurance customers’ perceived effectiveness, which make up the effectiveness model (EM), namely ‘Factor 1 – Internal Process Enhancement’, ‘Factor 2 – Cost-Efficiencies’; ‘Factor 3 – Time-Sensitive Conditions’, ‘Factor 4 – The Contemporary Use of Artificial Intelligence and Marketing in Relation to Customer Service’ and ‘Factor 5 – Customer Relations and Application of InsurTech in Communication’. Moreover, multiple linear regression results show that the perceived effectiveness dimension – EM is statistically significantly related to online use in Malta.

Practical implications: Therefore, it can be argued that the Maltese insurance sector is well prepared to meet the obligations and requirements of the European Green Deal. Findings shed light on the preparedness of the Maltese insurance market to accept innovative green proposals to go online with processes.