Facts + Statistics: Flood insurance

SPONSORED BY

Flood damage is excluded under standard homeowners and renters insurance policies. However, flood coverage is available as a separate policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and from many private insurers. Industry observers note that many properties that should have flood coverage do not. According to a 2023 Triple-I/Munich Re Consumer Survey, 22 percent of homeowners reported that they are at risk of flood. Of those, 78 percent purchased flood insurance—35 percent from a private insurance provider and 43 percent through the National Flood Insurance Program.

Top 10 Most Significant Flood Events By National Flood Insurance Program Payouts (1)

 

Rank Date Event Number of
paid losses		 Amount paid
($ millions)
when occurred		 Amount paid
($ millions)
in 2023 dollars		 Average paid loss
in 2023 dollars
1 Aug. 2005 Hurricane Katrina 168,200 $16,330 $25,592 $152,152
2 Oct. 2012 Superstorm Sandy 132,800 8,967 11,931 89,842
3 Sep. 2017 Hurricane Harvey 77,100 9,015 11,302 146,589
4 Sep. 2022 Hurricane Ian 48,000 4,300 4,441 92,521
5 Sep. 2008 Hurricane Ike 46,900 2,711 3,814 81,322
6 Aug. 2016 Louisiana severe storms and flooding 27,600 2,522 3,223 116,775
7 Sep. 2004 Hurricane Ivan 31,000 1,671 2,709 87,387
8 May 2001 Tropical Storm Allison 62,200 1,110 1,919 30,852
9 Aug. 2011 Hurricane Irene 43,800 1,344 1,826 41,689
10 Apr. 2017 Hurricane Irma 22,300 1,094 1,365 61,211

(1) Includes events from 1978 to December 31, 2023 as of January 2024. Defined by the National Flood Insurance Program as an event that produces at least 1,500 paid losses. Ranked on Amount Paid in 2023 dollars.

Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data; analysis courtesy of Aon.

View Archived Tables

Private flood insurance

Private Flood Insurance, 2017-2022

($000)

Year Net premiums
written (1)		 Annual percent
change		 Combined
ratio (2)		 Annual point
change (3)
2017 $470,961.0 0.7% 186.1 92.3 pts.
2018 540,875.0 0.1 55.0 -131.1
2019 287,197.0 -46.9 58.5 3.5
2020 302,444.0 5.3 50.7 -7.8
2021 524,209.0 73.3 65.0 14.3
2022 768,688.0 46.6 70.8 5.8

(1) After reinsurance transactions, excludes state funds and premiums written by private insurers participating in the National Flood
Insurance Program's Write Your Own program.
(2) After dividends to policyholders. A drop in the combined ratio represents an improvement; an increase represents a deterioration.
(3) Calculated from unrounded numbers.

Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.

View Archived Tables

Top 10 Writers Of Private Flood Insurance By Direct Premiums Written, 2023 (1)

($000)

Rank Group/company Direct premiums written (2) Market share (3)
1 Zurich Insurance Group $165,972 12.1%
2 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 161,266 11.8
3 AXA 144,462 10.5
4 Assurant Inc. 123,545 9.0
5 American International Group (AIG) 119,244 8.7
6 Liberty Mutual 87,811 6.4
7 Swiss Re Ltd. 77,037 5.6
8 MS&AD Insurance 76,243 5.6
9 Sompo 64,683 4.7
10 Allstate Corp. 54,988 4.0

(1) Private flood includes both commercial and private residential coverage, primarily first-dollar standalone policies that cover the flood peril and excess flood. Excludes sewer/water backup and the crop flood peril.
(2) Before reinsurance transactions.
(3) Based on U.S. total, excluding territories

Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.

View Archived Tables

Coastal State Storm Surge And Hurricane Wind Risk

U.S. Storm Surge Risk, Gulf and Atlantic States, 2023

 

  Single-family residential
homes potentially affected (1)		 Multi-family residential
homes potentially affected (2)
Storm surge risk level (3)
(Storm category)		 Number of units Number of units
Category 1 1,278,734 40,032
Category 2 2,741,179 95,513
Category 3 4,445,280 158,792
Category 4 8,437,578 235,770
Category 5 7,557,343 261,432

(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.
(3) The risk categories are cumulative and increase in value from Category 1 to Category 5. Category 1 represents the higher risk of damage from a weak hurricane; Category 5 includes Categories 1 to 4 and the low risk of damage from a Category 5 hurricane.

Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company. May not be re-sold, republished or licensed to any other source without prior written permission from CoreLogic.

View Archived Tables

U.S. Hurricane Wind Risk, Gulf and Atlantic States, 2023

 

  Single-family residential
homes potentially affected (1)		 Multifamily residential
homes potentially affected (2)
Hurricane wind risk level (3) Number of units Reconstruction
cost value (4)
($ billions)		 Number of units Reconstruction
cost value (4)
($ billions)
Extreme 6,366,925 $1,843.0 125,218 $45.9
Very high or greater 14,797,190 4,445.0 229,932 91.8
High or greater 22,304,482 7,420.5 661,973 353.8
Moderate or greater 32,084,697 11,085.1 992,979 559.8

(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.
(3) The risk categories are cumulative and increase in value from extreme to moderate or greater. The moderate or greater wind risk level encompasses all four wind risk levels."
(4) Combines materials, equipment and labor, but does not include the value of the land or lot.

Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company.

View Archived Tables

Top 5 Metropolitan Areas At Risk for Storm Surge and Hurricane Wind, 2023

 

  Single-family (1)
    At risk for storm surge     At risk for hurricane wind
Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)		 Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)
1  New York, Newark, Jersey City 788,261 $406.4 1  New York, Newark, Jersey City 3,825,243 $2,145.6
2 Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach 746,602 211.4 2 Houston, The Woodlands, Sugar Land 2,085,879 643.1
3 Tampa, St. Petersberg, Clearwater 540,411 145.5 3 Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach 2,018,040 562.9
4 New Orleans, Metairie 405,975 127.0 4 Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington 1,927,600 862.7
5 Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Newport News 399,326 122.7 5 Washington DC, Arlington, Alexandria 1,766,435 704.8
  Multi-family (3)
    At risk for storm surge     At risk for hurricane wind
Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)		 Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)
1  New York, Newark, Jersey City 111,165 $66.9 1  New York, Newark, Jersey City 467,227 $278.1
2 Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach 31,428 9.9 2 Washington DC, Arlington, Alexandria 100,649 26.5
3 Boston, Cambridge, Newton 26,811 14.8 3 Boston, Cambridge, Newton 82,780 62.2
4 Cape Coral, Fort Myers 13,894 4.8 4 Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach 64,902 22.1
5 Tampa, St. Petersberg, Clearwater 12,572 4.4 5 Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington 59,208 36.1

(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Combines materials, equipment and labor, but does not include the value of the land or lot.
(3) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.

Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company.

View Archived Tables

Atlantic And Gulf Coast States Ranked By Building Codes and Related Factors, 2012 to 2021 (1)

 

Rank State 2012 2015 2018 2021
1 Florida 95 94 95 95
2 Virginia 95 95 94 94
3 South Carolina 84 92 92 92
4 New Jersey 93 89 90 90
5 Connecticut 81 88 89 89
6 Rhode Island 78 87 87 89
7 North Carolina 81 84 83 88
8 Louisiana 73 82 83 82
9 Massachusetts 87 79 81 78
10 Maryland 73 78 78 78
11 Georgia 66 69 68 69
12 New York 60 56 64 60
13 Maine 64 55 54 55
14 New Hampshire 49 48 46 48
15 Texas 18 36 34 34
16 Alabama 18 26 27 30
17 Mississippi 4 28 28 29
18 Delaware 17 17 17 17

(1) Rating based on the current statewide residential building code, the processes in place to ensure uniform code application, state and local enforcement programs, licensing and education of building officials, contractors, and
subcontractors.

Source: Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.

Additional resources

Back to top