Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance

Climate change risk is rising, and yet behavioral economics research argues that we are collectively underinvesting in protecting ourselves. In The Ostrich Paradox: Why We Underprepare for Disasters, Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther point to several personal traits that expose us to greater risk from natural disasters. First, individuals focus on short time horizons and thus underprepare for future threats. Second, when major disasters do occur, individuals are shocked but quickly begin to let their guard down again. Third, people are over-optimistic and thus underestimate their own risk exposure.

And the risks are real: Zillow’s research predicts that $400 billion dollars of real estate value in Florida could be at risk from climate change by the year 2100.

It might seem, then, that private insurance can be of little help in addressing climate change. There’s concern that for-profit insurers won’t want to insure risky properties, and that individuals won’t have the wherewithal to buy insurance plans in the first place. It’s certainly true that private insurance is not enough, on its own, to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Nor can insurance fully prevent the massive harm caused by storms like Hurricane Harvey, which recently struck Houston, killing at least several residents and causing considerable damage.

Nonetheless, private insurance has a significant role to play. And we believe that the concerns raised by behavioral economics are overblown. Sure, we aren’t perfectly rational. But the emerging challenge of reducing risk exposure for coastal residents creates new opportunities for firms that can innovate and provide new solutions. Innovations in spatial sciences, combined with big data, raise the possibility of the insurance industry introducing innovative pricing strategies that induce private real estate owners and local governments to take efforts that together yield a more resilient real estate capital stock. In short, the insurance industry is adapting in order to profit from climate risk, and in doing so it will help society adapt as well.

By Matthew E. Kahn, Brian Casey andNolan Jones

See full story at hbr.org

 

Although this is a gardening column, we can’t always keep stuffing our snoots into fragrant blooms and call that gardening. Not all fragrances are pleasant.

It is so easy to get caught up in the visioning that you forget to see some of the practicalities. Many folks, especially those of you who are legitimately capable when it comes to planning out a renovation, take on the mantle of general contractor, and hire various companies to handle the work as necessary. That is all well and good, but did you check with your home insurance provider? Oh, and did you remember to purchase General Liability Insurance and register with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)? Do you realize that if you hire ABK Landscaping (an uninsured fictitious company), you are responsible for all of their activities including their work, damages to others, and any health claims ABK’s employees might file against you?

Recently, it was my distinct pleasure to have spent some time as an instructor in the current Horticultural Apprenticeship Course.  A portion of the course covered some of the regulations, acts and by-laws by which their landscape businesses must operate.  There are reasons for these compliance requirements and all professional companies will be on board with them. The list is more than impressive, it is staggering. One business owner quipped that he needs two trucks at every job site; one for tools and workers and the second transports the paperwork.

However, that’s their problem not yours- unless you make it so, however unintentionally. GR, make sure you do your homework before you hire someone to work on your property, in whatever capacity.

Here are some considerations taken from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Fact Sheet- Hiring A Contractor.

You want to find out as much as you can, so ask a lot of questions, such as:

How long have you been in business?

What work are you, or your subcontractors, licensed to do, e.g., electrical, plumbing?

What kind of work do you specialize in? Have you done a similar job before?

Will you use your own crew for the work or will you subcontract all or part of the job?

By Dan Clost

See full story at www.insidebelleville.com

Leslie Kurtz needed three plates, eight screws and a big assist from her insurer after breaking every bone in her ankle while white water rafting.

Coverage she purchased through a public insurance exchange established by the federal health care law paid $65,000 toward surgery and the care she needed after the 2015 accident. But that protection may not exist next year because insurers have abandoned the Knoxville, Tennessee resident’s exchange. As of now, Kurtz has no future coverage options, and she is worried.

“I can’t afford to have everything I’ve worked for taken away because I fell down the steps,” Kurtz said.

Her county is one of 16 in Tennessee that lack even a single insurance company committed to offering coverage for 2018 on the exchange, after Humana announced last month plans to exit.

Exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act were designed to give customers a chance to shop for coverage and then buy a plan, most with help from tax credits. The idea was that such a marketplace would push insurers to offer affordable plans to compete for customers.

But insurers in many markets have been pulling back from the exchanges after losing money. According to an analysis by the Associated Press and the health care firm Avalere Health, more than 1,000 counties, where about 2.8 million people are insured through the exchanges, are down to their last insurance carrier, according to the most recent data.

With less competition, that could mean sharply higher rates. And with more insurers still considering leaving other markets, customers around the country could be stuck like Kurtz with no affordable coverage options in 2018.

Insurers still have a few more weeks to decide to stay in their exchanges, and other insurers may jump into new markets, though that can be expensive and risky for them. The government recently announced several short-term fixes for the exchanges, and insurers have welcomed the moves. But they want to see the final version of the improvements before deciding on 2018.

By TOM MURPHY and MEGHAN HOYER

See full story at finance.yahoo.com