NAIC Has ‘Deep Concerns’ About FIO Bid to Collect Climate Change Data From Insurers

In a letter to the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners expressed its “deep concern” over a proposal to collect data on climate-related risks from property/casualty insurers, and its disappointment that insurance commissioners have not been engaged in the effort so far.

“The unilateral process Treasury employed thus far is a missed opportunity to work collaboratively with regulators on an issue we have both identified as a priority,” said the letter from NAIC leaders. “FIO has failed to demonstrate a good faith effort to engage with state regulators and has exhibited their intention to forgo a collaborative effort to identify and collect accurate and useful data.”

The NAIC said its Climate and Resiliency Task Force was established more than a decade ago and has been addressing climate-related risk and resiliency issues.

The FIO in October said in a Federal Register notice that it was seeking public comment on its proposal to collect current and historical underwriting data on homeowners insurance on a granular, zip code level.

“It is unclear how FIO will use the data they intend to collect, and it is likely that any analysis will be misinterpreted and produce fallacious results in trying to identify climate risk,” NAIC said. “Treasury is requesting property insurance market data at a granular level, but it is unclear how that data will be married with other information to illustrate climate risk specifically.”

Industry trade associations the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), and Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) also have blasted the FIO proposal.

The time used by the FIO to request feedback from the industry on a hypothetical proposal “could have been better spent working collaboratively with regulators to produce a data call best suited to the task,” NAIC said.

“FIO should leverage publicly available data and work with state regulators to better inform a data collection effort to fit its ill-defined purpose,” NAIC added.