Connecticut has joined with four other states in requiring insurance companies to fill out climate risk surveys, the state’s insurance commissioner, Thomas Leonardi, announced.
By Aug. 30, approximately 110 insurers in the state will be required to complete the eight-question survey, which asks insurers how they help policy holders mitigate potential losses, to identify geographic areas at risk and to describe their use of computer modeling to calculate premiums.
The surveys have been voluntary in Connecticut since 2009, the same year in which California, New York and Washington made them mandatory for insurers of a certain size.
“As regulators, it is important that we identify those climate-related factors that can affect the marketplace and in particular the availability and cost of insurance,” Leonardi said in a statement. “These surveys give us another window into the industry’s risk management practices as they relate to changing weather patterns.”
The survey responses will be made available to the public, he added.
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