In the United States, standard homeowners insurance policies cover damages resulting from fire, wind, and hail, but exclude damages caused by floods and earthquakes. This is not the practice worldwide: several countries include all perils in homeowners insurance. Building on two fundamental...

In the past few years the insurance community has paid increasing attention to the “protection gap”—the extent to which significant property losses are not covered by insurance. Because insurance plays an important economic and social role in many ways, the protection gap is significant to...

In the past few years the insurance community has paid increasing attention to the concept of “protection gaps”—the extent to which significant losses are not covered by insurance. Homeowners insurance is a key area in which these discussions have occurred, particularly as natural...