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Weather & Science

US Home Insurance Still Priced Too Low for Climate Risk, Says Swiss Re Chair

Jacques de Vaucleroy said despite recent increases, premiums will have to climb further to encourage risk aversion. 

A damaged pool next to a hurricane-resistant home following Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, on Aug. 29, 2023. 

Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg
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This has been a year of insurance sticker shock in the US. But the man who provides insurance to insurers thinks maybe the shock still isn’t enough to steer people away from risk in a changing climate.

“There is not a lot of action yet, not enough,” Jacques de Vaucleroy, chairman of Swiss Re, said in a recent interview at the company’s Manhattan offices. Homes are still being built in places they shouldn’t be, he noted, and often grandly at that. Premiums relative to the potential payout for a claim are still acceptable for many consumers, he added.