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Data collection from insurers would begin next year, if approved

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) took a critical next step to proceed with its first-ever data collection from insurers to assess climate-related financial risk to consumers across the United States. 

FIO’s data collection will obtain previously unavailable insurance data at a ZIP Code level on a consistent, granular, and comparable basis from the largest homeowners insurance providers that collectively underwrite around 70% of homeowners insurance premiums nationwide. These nationwide data are critical to understanding how climate-related financial risks impact individuals and families across state markets and the United States, particularly given recent insurer pullbacks and significant premium increases in several states. In 2022, insurance covered only 60 percent of $165 billion in total economic losses from climate-related disasters, affecting millions of Americans. 

“Americans are facing growing challenges from extreme weather events caused by climate change,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. “The Treasury Department’s insurer data collection is the first of its kind and will provide critical information at a local level to assess the increasing impacts of climate change on household budgets. The resulting data and analyses will help policymakers inform potential approaches to improving insurance availability and affordability for consumers.”

FIO today is providing public notice on its intent to proceed with the data collection, while also submitting the data collection request to the Office of Management and Budget for approval and public comment. 

Today’s action advances the proposal for data collection that FIO published in October 2022. FIO has carefully reviewed the comments received and engaged with numerous stakeholders, including the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and state insurance regulators. Based on these discussions, FIO has streamlined and refined its data collection request to facilitate a more effective implementation of the collection. The changes to the data collection proposal are intended to help establish a national baseline for analytics at a ZIP Code level, while also reducing burden on small insurers. FIO will continue its engagement with the NAIC, state insurance regulators, and other stakeholders on this initiative. 

The data collection is part of FIO’s work in response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Climate-related Financial Risk, EO 14030 (May 20, 2021), which called on FIO to “assess, in consultation with States, the potential for major disruptions of private insurance coverage in regions of the country particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.” The collection will also advance FIO’s statutory mandates, including to monitor the extent to which traditionally underserved communities and consumers, minorities, and low- and moderate-income persons have access to affordable insurance products and to monitor all aspects of the insurance industry.

Copies of the current submission and request for public comments, FIO’s November 2023 Federal Register notice and request for comments, and copies of the data collection form and instructions, are available through FIO Reports & Notices. For more information on FIO, see About FIO.

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