New Zealand's Earthquake Commission (EQC) is the government agency providing natural disaster insurance for homeowners.
This looks like cheap disaster insurance, or a cheap wager on a market crash.
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An alternative would be to make natural-disaster insurance (covering floods, earthquakes, avalanches and so on) obligatory, with premiums more closely reflecting the risk.
You name it: health insurance, disaster insurance, social security.
In her aftermath comes a newly urgent debate over how to fix the reeling disaster-insurance business and whether government should step in--or butt out.
The bell has rung at Lloyd's for one insufficiently reserved insurance disaster after another since the early 1990s.
The best tool to protect oneself from a natural disaster is private insurance, said Howard Kunreuther, co-director of the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
After any major disaster, diverse professional insurance counselors predictably distribute in-depth collaterals specifying best practices in dealing with insurance companies.
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In a sense, the right to go bust is an insurance policy against financial disaster.
Americans buy auto and homeowners insurance in case of disaster but don't mind paying for routine car and home repairs.
Grants to replace personal property and help meet medical, dental, funeral, transportation and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other federal, state and charitable aid programs.
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LATELY, British life insurance has seemed synonymous with disaster.
Taxpayers who suffered disaster related losses which are not covered by insurance can deduct those casualty losses on a federal income tax return.
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The polemical edge is unrelenting: deregulation of the financial markets was a disaster, and piling collateralized debt obligations and insurance swaps atop sub-prime mortgages was insane.
Edwin Cosme, who owns a local salon and electrical store which were both badly damaged by the hurricane, said 25% of local businesses had yet to reopen because of insurance problems and trouble getting government disaster help.
"You would have to pay far more in these disaster programs, as opposed to a crop insurance program where a farmer can depend on it and a lender can depend on it, and it's over the long term, " Roberts said.
Generally, you claim a casualty loss for property damage not covered by insurance or reimbursement in the year the disaster occurs.
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Hence the proliferation of new health screens--many not covered by insurance--that try to detect disaster early so patients can put up a decent fight.
And they can redistribute resources geographically, providing insurance when one part of the country is hit by disaster or recession and shifting income from rich regions to poor ones.
As the next chart shows, the share paid by insurance companies held steady, while the share paid by federal disaster relief increased substantially, from about 25 percent before Katrina to nearly 70 percent after.
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That may make leave those in Washington boiling, but from our perspective Transocean paid what was likely a hefty price for such insurance in order to protect shareholders in the event of such a disaster.
Many are probably thinking about the insurance battle ahead, or the money issues that even the most prepared for a natural disaster have to deal with.
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The reductions will result from additional taxes to pay for 3.11 disaster recovery and reconstruction, abolition of the child-raising stipends, and increases in the state pension insurance premiums.
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Stormy Future for U.S. Property and Casualty Insurers: The Growing Costs and Risks of Extreme Weather Events lays out a plan of action for insurance companies, regulators and investors to deal with the increased risks tied to climate-driven disaster.
Regular homeowners insurance provides coverage for the cost of additional living expenses if a home is damaged by an insured disaster, such as wind damage or a tree that fell through the roof.
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