Let the markets in! A question of private flood insurance in the Netherlands?

Abstract

At present in the Netherlands, a public flood compensation program is in operation. Some consider this system to be inefficient and no longer appropriate. As severe weather events become ever more frequent, linked to climate change, compensation payments may put the government under increasing financial strain and there is a belief that some or all of the risk should be transferred to the private insurance sector. For others, however, the collective approach to flood compensation has been a necessary component of the country’s successful flood resilience over the last half a century. Based on an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of public and private flood insurance and compensation schemes used in other countries, this thesis will seek to determine whether the introduction of private flood insurance to the Netherlands is socially and economically desirable and under what conditions this might take place.