JillaFer Bdli Arji mate useful patrak - જીલ્લા ફેર બદલી અરજી માટે ઉપયોગી પત્રકો
JillaFer Bdli Arji mate useful patrak - જીલ્લા ફેર બદલી અરજી માટે ઉપયોગી પત્રકો How It
Works: The NFIP is administered by FEMA, now part of the Department of Homeland Security. Flood insurance was initially only available through insurance agents who dealt directly with the federal program. The “direct” policy program has been supplemented since 1983 with a private/public cooperative arrangement, known as “Write Your Own,” through which a pool of insurance companies issue policies and adjust flood claims on behalf of the federal government under their own names, charging the same premium as the direct program. Participating insurers receive an expense allowance for policies written and claims processed. The federal government retains responsibility for underwriting losses. Today, most policies are issued through the Write-YourOwn program but some nonfederally backed coverage is available from the private market.
The NFIP is expected to be self-supporting (i.e., premiums are set at an actuarially sound level) in an average loss year, as reflected in past experience. In an extraordinary year, as Hurricane Katrina demonstrated, losses can greatly exceed premiums, leaving the NFIP with a huge debt to the U.S. Treasury that it is unlikely to be able to pay back. Hurricane Katrina losses and the percentage of flood damage that was uninsured led to calls for a revamping of the entire flood program.As with other types of insurance, rates for flood insurance are based on the degree of risk.
FEMA assesses flood risk for all the participating communities, resulting in the publication of thousands of individual flood rate maps. Highrisk areas are known as Special Flood Hazard Areas, or SFHAs.Flood plain maps are redrawn periodically, removing some properties previously designated as high hazard and adding new ones. New technology enables flood mitigation programs to more accurately pinpoint areas vulnerable to flooding. As development in and around flood plains increases, run off patterns can change, causing flooding in areas that were formerly not considered high risk and vice versa.
People tend to underestimate the risk of flooding. The highest-risk areas (Zone A) have an annual flood risk of 1 percent and a 26 percent chance of flooding over the lifetime of a 30-year mortgage, compared with a 9 percent risk over the same period. In addition, people who live in areas adjacent to high-risk zones may still be exposed to floods on occasion. Ninety percent of all natural disasters in this country involve flooding,
the NFIP says. Since the inception of the federal program, some 25 to 30 percent of all paid losses were for damage in areas not officially designated at the time of loss as special flood hazard areas. NFIP coverage is available outside high-risk zones at a lower premium.To prevent people putting off the purchase of coverage until waters are rising and flooding is inevitable, policyholders must wait 30 days before their policy takes effect. In 1993, 7,800 policies purchased at the last minute resulted in $48 million in claims against only in premiums.Proposals for Change:
The NFIP has four major goals: to decrease the risk of flood losses; reduce the costs and consequences of flooding; reduce the demand for federal assistance; and preserve and restore beneficial floodplain functions. In a final report published in 2006 by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), which conducted an evaluation of the federal flood insurance program,
AIR said that although much had been accomplished, the program fell short of meeting its goals in part because the NFIP did not have the ability to guide development away from floodplains and cannot restore beneficial floodplain functions once they have been impaired. In addition, AIR said, many people still are not covered or not adequately covered for flood damage. AIR also noted that the NFIP was hampered in reaching its goals by insufficient Congressional funding, lack of pertinent data, misperceptions about the nature of the program and the breakdown in coordination among its three major sectors.
A report published by FEMA in 2007 suggests that development patterns should be changed to protect environmentally sensitive areas and that communities in the flood program should be encouraged or required to ban development in these locations. Another criticism of the NFIP is that it does not charge enough for coverage. Among the reasons for the premium shortfall is that the cost of coverage on dwellings that were built before floodplain management regulations were established in
their communities is subsidized. As a result, the premiums paid for flood coverage by the owners of these properties reflect only 30 to 40 percent of the true risk of loss. In January 2006 FEMA estimated an annual shortfall in premium income of million due to these subsidies. Some subsidized properties also suffer repetitive losses. Repetitive loss properties accounted for about $4.6 billion in claims payments between 1978 and 2004.
The AIR report acknowledged that the current system is not eliminating existing damage-prone buildings as quickly as expected.right to trial by jury. In Illinois, the Supreme Court overturned the state’s 2005 medical malpractice statute, which capped noneconomic (pain and suffering) medical malpractice awards at in lawsuits against physicians and $1 million for hospitals. The court ruled that the law violated the state’s constitutional principle of separation of powers in that lawmakers had made decisions that should be made by judges and juries.Some states, such as Maryland, are deciding to retain their caps when challenged. Arbitration:
To keep small disputes out of the courts, insurers are increasingly turning to arbitration. The nation’s largest arbitration provider, nonprofit Arbitration Forums, resolved more than 520,000 inter-insurance disputes in 2009 valued at $2.5 billion, for a savings in litigation costs of $700 million. Disputes leading to arbitration typically arise when insurance or self-insured companies believe their policyholders or employees are not at fault or due to disagreement Microinsurance
A growing number of insurers are tapping into markets in developing countries through microinsurance projects, which provide low-cost insurance to individuals generally not covered by traditional insurance or government programs. Microinsurance products tend to be much less costly than traditional products and thus extend protection to a much wider market. The approach is an outgrowth of the microfinancing projects developed by Bangladeshi Nobel Prizewinning banker and economist Muhammad Yunus, which helped millions of low-income individuals in Asia and Africa to set up businesses and buy houses.
American International Group Inc. (AIG) was one of the first companies to offer microinsurance and began selling policies in Uganda in 1997. Swiss Re, Munich Re, Allianz and Zurich Financial Services have also entered the microinsurance arena. Disasters such as the 2005 tsunami in Indonesia and the 2010 Haiti earthquake have demonstrated
the need for insurance in many regions, prompting insurers to develop new products. While the coverage is often geared to protection from natural disasters, there are also programs covering life/health risks as well.With limited growth prospects in the insurance markets of developed countries, which are largely saturated, insurers see microinsurance in emerging economies as presenting significant potential for growth and profitability.
A 2009 Swiss Re report on world insurance markets found that premium growth in emerging markets far outpaced growth in industrialized countries in 2008. The study identified the following regions as “emerging markets”: Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, South and East Asia, the Middle East (excluding Israel) and Central Asia, Turkey and Africa. In 2009 the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the World Bank,
the International Labor Organization and other multilateral groups launched a program to improve access to insurance in emerging and underserved markets called the “Access to Insurance Initiative.” Also in 2009 representatives from over 60 countries participated in the Fifth International Microinsurance Conference, which was organized by the reinsurer Munich Re and the Microinsurance Network, a joint effort of aid organizations, multilateral agencies, insurers, policymakers and academics.
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