Equitable Access to Affordable Earthquake Insurance: A Resilience Challenge
This 2-hour webinar was hosted by CREW and CUSEC on February 8 to take a deeper look at both the key difficulties and the potential of insurance as a tool for stronger recovery after an earthquake.
Panelists for this event:
Dr. Carolyn Kousky, who is Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Her research includes examining principles for an inclusive insurance market and both public and private sector changes that could help expand access to affordable and appropriate disaster risk transfer tools. See also her new book, Understanding Disaster Insurance: New Tools for a More Resilient Future.
Lynda Foster, who co-chairs the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Advisory Council at California Earthquake Authority (CEA), where she is also the claim manager and a former community and agent liaison. She is a member of CEA’s strategic initiative team considering equity in the earthquake insurance coverages that CEA provides.
Kate Stillwell, who is the founder of the parametric earthquake insurance company Jumpstart and President of Parametric Insurance at Neptune Flood Insurance, where she is engaged in the development and piloting of a new community/group-based disaster insurance product.
Douglas Heller, who is Director of Insurance at the Consumer Federation of America and a member of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance. Recently, he worked with the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) to address concerns about affordability and coverage options; to increase CEA’s engagement with low-income tenant and homeowner advocacy groups to identify barriers that prevent consumers from purchasing earthquake insurance; and to consider the importance of retrofitting multi-family units.
Funding for this event was provided by FEMA / National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP)
