On April 09, the “Adapting to flood risk: collaborative public-private management” Forum was held by AGERS and Bosco Francoy, CEO of MAPFRE Global Risks, took part in order to get an overview of the evolution of this type of claim and its impact on insurance.
On April 09, ArcelorMittal España S.A. de Avilés (Asturias) held the Forum on “Adapting to flood risk: collaborative public-private management,” organized by the Association of Risk Management and Insurance (AGERS). Experts from different sectors have come together to describe the phases in flood risk management and find effective strategies in the management of this type of claim, emphasizing prevention and the need for public-private collaboration.
This time, Bosco Francoy, CEO of MAPFRE Global Risks, Aránzazu Gurrea-Nozaleda Merayo, Head of the flood protection service of the General Directorate of Water of MITECO (Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico [Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge]), Francisco Espejo Gil, Deputy Director of International Studies and Relations of the Insurance Compensation Consortium and Juan Carlos López Porcel, President of AGERS and Risk and Insurance Manager at ArcelorMittal España, were part of the round table; this act moderated and facilitated awareness for prevention and public-private collaboration to meet the challenges posed by flooding.
The claim for the day was carried out by thoroughly addressing the phases through which flood risk management must go:
- Analysis
- Identification
- Mitigation Actions
- Emergency plans
- Continuity Plan
- Asset Inventory
- And finally, possible applicable insurance structure.
The need to raise awareness and educate the population about this risk in nature was found to be critical to foster greater preparedness, foresight and an effective response. The use of claims data was also defined as essential, as they allow for the assessment and minimization of flood risk, offering a detailed analysis and the identification of more susceptible areas and sectors.
In this sense, during his appearance, Bosco Francoy pointed to flooding as the most frequent claims among the risks posed by nature, being the leading cause of death among natural disasters (one-third of the total deceased). Moreover, he brought a very clarifying piece of information to the table: floods caused €88 billion worldwide in insured damages, which represents approximately 15% of total economic losses.
Although, in Spain, the Insurance Compensation Consortium covers weather events such as extraordinary flooding due to its exceptional nature, others such as rain, hail or snow are excluded. The reality in which we live in 2024 is that climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of flooding around the world, so, as proposed at the workshop, Francoy has advocated for the need to expand the coverage provided by the Consortium on climate events.
And in recent years, as indicated by different industry reports, insurers, reinsurers and agroinsurers are experiencing an estimated $100 billion annually in losses due to these natural disasters.
