Great East Japan Earthquake Earthquake risk insurance in Japan

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1 Great East Japan Earthquake Earthquake risk insurance in Japan Emily White & Olivier Mahul The World Bank Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Program, GFDRR & FCMNB GFDRR is able to help developing countries reduce their vulnerability to natural disasters and adapt to climate change, thanks to the continued support of its partners: ACP Secretariat, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, China, Denmark, Egypt, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, Yemen, IFRC, UNDP, UN/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and The World Bank. Introduction Scope Lessons learned from the Japanese insurance industry following the Great East Japan Earthquake Focus on residential losses Sources Multiple sources compiled as part of a World Bank knowledge note by O. Mahul and E. White 2 1

2 Disaster risk financing and insurance Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance reduce the opportunity cost of disasters (cost of securing funds to sustain a disaster) Disaster Risk Reduction reduces the disaster losses Disaster Risk Financing & Insurance Opportunity cost of disasters Disaster Risk Reduction Disaster losses Overall cost of disasters Great East Japan Earthquake Costliest disaster of all time Great East Japan Earthquake, 2011 $225bn 4% GDP Maule Earthquake, Chile 2010 $20bn 9% GDP Canterbury Earthquake, NZ 2011 $15bn 9% GDP 4 2

3 Building damage dominated economic losses Damage to private buildings accounted for ~60% of total direct economic loss An estimated 16% of total economic losses were insured At around 40% residential earthquake insurance in Japan is relatively high Almost 80% of insured losses came from residential building coverage Loss breakdown Total Insured Insured; Residential Buildings 5 Japanese insurance industry coped well with its postdisaster obligations Industry emerged without significant financial impairment An estimated 60 percent of claims paid within two months and 90 percent within 5 months of event occurrence Innovative index-linked risk transfer products used by Japanese insurers to transfer risk into capital markets were tested, and proved successful 6 3

4 Lessons learned from the resilience of the Japanese insurance industry Unique dual system Strong role for government Strong role for private insurers both domestically and internationally Careful control of liabilities Prudent policy structuring and control of aggregate exposure through reinsurance Rapid adjustment process Simple three-step coverage system and use of satellite images to identify damage 7 Private insurers supported by government (JERC) Cooperative mutual insurers (the Kyosai) 8 4

5 Japan Earthquake Reinsurance Company Reinsurance Program (as of May 2011) 9 Both programs played an important role after the GEJE: Insured residential losses Cooperative mutual insurers ~44% Private insurers & JER ~56% 10 5

6 Key differences Private insurers & JER Voluntary coverage Risk capital from government Risk-based pricing Risk pooling through JER Cooperative mutual insurers Automatic coverage* Use of international reinsurance Flat rates * The largest Kyosai exercises automatic coverage and accounts for 11 the vast majority of market share. Not all Kyosai do. Key similarities Restricted policy coverage Extensive use of reinsurance (public and private) 12 6

7 Lessons learned Policy design and well-structured reinsurance programs to control aggregate exposure are critical for the creation of a sustainable, effective program Multiple channels for delivery of earthquake insurance can be effective Governments can play an important role in the delivery of viable alongside the private sector 13 Future challenges for the Japanese earthquake insurance system Although penetration is relatively high, more than half of Japanese homeowners remain uninsured for earthquake risk Insured households face the risk of underinsurance due to restricted coverage limits Government liability under the JER is high in proportion to reserves put aside for this purpose 14 7

8 Questions? World Bank Disaster Risk Insurance and Financing team