How ‘Super Roofs’ Reward Insurers, Cat Bond Investors and Homeowners
Investors snapped up a catastrophe bond tied to North Carolina homeowners and their insurer for installing super roofs.
A home with a missing roof after Hurricane Dorian in Beaufort, North Carolina, in 2019.
Photographer: Charles Mostoller/BloombergAs the Trump administration stalls federal funding for projects intended to make states more resilient to climate change and private insurers decline to cover properties in high-risk zones, North Carolina just proved there’s another way to fund disaster preparedness: a $600 million catastrophe bond that rewards homeowners and their insurer for installing “super roofs.”
Along North Carolina’s beaches, wind damage from hurricanes is such a threat that many private insurers have stopped offering coverage. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners have been forced to buy coverage from the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association (NCIUA), the state-created insurer of last resort for coastal properties.