Assisting the city of New York to help vulnerable communities recover faster

The area surrounding New York City is increasingly prone to sea level rise and floods. Currently, 780,000 of New York City residents live within or directly adjacent to the 500-year floodplain.

Low- to moderate-income residents are disproportionately affected and struggle to access financial resources to recover after a flood.

The Center for NYC Neighbourhoods (CNYCN) in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, the Environmental Defense Fund and SBP USA sought a solution to help better protect those residents from flood risk.

Swiss Re partnered with reinsurance broker, Guy Carpenter, and the data technology firm ICEYE to develop a parametric flood insurance policy that provides up to USD 1.1 million in emergency funding.

The solution leverages high-resolution data obtained through a mix of real-time satellite data, on-the-ground real-time sensors, and social media. When a flood occurs, the percentage of each insured neighbourhood inundated by floodwaters is determined and if the percentage exceeds the agreed threshold, a payment is issued to CNYCN, who will subsequently distribute grants to households. This novel parametric insurance solution was awarded the Innovation Award at the 2023 Axco Global Insurance Awards.