Amwins and Floodbase partner on parametric flood insurance for California Municipalities

Amwins, the insurance origination and distribution specialist, has partnered with insurtech Floodbase, which acts as a data provider and reporting agent for parametric risk transfer arrangements, to launch a new product targeted at California Municipalities.

The parametric flood insurance product aims to fill a gap where municipalities in the state of California are largely uninsured against flooding, despite atmospheric river events costing the state more than $1 billion annually.

Responsive protection and just-in-time capital liquidity from parametric insurance is therefore seen as a solution to benefit the municipalities in California.

Using Floodbase’s advanced artificial intelligence (AI) monitoring technology, the goal is to provide a parametric product that provides comprehensive coverage to close the municipal flood protection gap.

The parametric program is backed by an “A+” AM Best rated carrier and is designed to provide policy payouts that automatically scale with the magnitude of atmospheric river flooding.

It will provide rapid access to capital, that the municipal governments can use to fund emergency response, offset lost tax revenue, establish residential rebuilding programs, or repair public infrastructure, for example.

In launching the program officially today, the companies said that it has already generated bound coverage from California public sector clients.

Municipalities are said to have replaced a portion of flood coverage with this new parametric product from Amwins and Floodbase.

“The California atmospheric river season runs from November through March and is fast becoming just as costly as the North Atlantic hurricane season or Midwest tornado season,” explained Alex Kaplan, executive vice president for Alternative Risk at Amwins. “Economic loss due to flooding decreases tax revenue and affects every sector and industry, from city budgets to banking, agriculture, and tourism. Our program with Floodbase brings much needed coverage and stability to local governments in a state which insurers have been leaving.”

In 2023, the atmospheric river season cost California between $5 billion and $7 billion in damages, and climate change is expected to drive annual damages from atmospheric rivers higher still, with exposures expected to double this century.

In the last two years, federal support covered less than 1% of the economic losses from atmospheric rivers, and it takes time for those funds to be disbursed and put to actual use.

So parametric insurance, that can payout rapidly based on monitored conditions, can be a valuable source of liquidity and cash to help municipalities recover from flood events.

“Public sector leaders across California recognize the growing threat of atmospheric rivers, and understand the dire financial position that municipalities can be left in following a flood. These annual storms have essentially become the west coast’s hurricane season,” Bessie Schwarz, chief executive officer at Floodbase said. “This program delivers fast, flexible funds that can be deployed as needed immediately following a flood – the type of economic backstop that was just not available before.”