Addressing financial recovery gaps for South Carolina households: Models for inclusive disaster insurance

This report provides a comprehensive review of the current resources for economic recovery post-disaster in South Carolina and explores one mechanism for filling identified gaps in recovery: new disaster insurance models. The escalating risk of coastal and inland flooding in South Carolina, driven in part by sea level rise and increasingly frequent extreme storms, poses an economic threat to household

Research from the report has documented that those with disaster insurance recover better and faster than those without insurance. Expanding access to disaster coverage, then, is one key tool for increasing financial resilience. New innovative types of disaster insurance can expand access and affordability and meet other documented needs in recovery, such as for nonproperty costs. In this report, we have outlined how two insurance structures new the U.S. residential insurance system—micro-insurance and group disaster insurance—could provide some benefits over traditional insurance structures for households with unmet needs.