UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Steven Koller, postdoctoral fellow in climate and housing at Harvard University, will give the talk, “The Willingness to Pay for Vehicle Flood Insurance,” at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 19, in 157 Hosler Building on the University Park campus.
Weather events are increasing in frequency and severity, and more communities are experiencing flooding, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA reports that 99% of counties in the U.S. experienced a flood in the past 20 years, causing significant damage and financial costs to homeowners and businesses.
“Insurance can support recovery after costly flood events,” Koller said. “While a large body of research evaluates many aspects of flood insurance in the context of residential property, insurance markets are relatively understudied with respect to vehicle assets and flood hazard.”
In his talk, Koller will discuss results from a survey of vehicle owners in coastal New York and Texas that collected information on vehicle flood exposure experiences, flood-related auto insurance literacy levels, insurance uptake rates, and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a single-peril vehicle flood insurance product currently unavailable in the general consumer market.
Koller’s findings indicate that 59% of respondents have experienced significant vehicle flood damage in their lifetimes, with an average maximum damage amount of nearly $10,000, and that fewer than half of household vehicles were insured against vehicle flood damage. More than one-third were unaware that comprehensive coverage is needed cover damages to vehicles from flooding, suggesting an insurance literacy gap that could impede risk management decisions.
Koller's research focuses on urban flood risk management, climate risk-exposed insurance markets, federal hazard mitigation and disaster programs, and building decarbonization.
Koller earned a doctorate in environmental science and policy from the University of Miami, master’s degree in international affairs from the University of California San Diego, and master’s degree in history and bachelor’s degree in sociology from Penn State.
The Initiative for Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy (EEEPI) was established in 2011 with the goal of promoting policy-relevant economics research that lies at the boundary between economic sciences and the study of natural or engineered systems. The EEEPI initiative is focused primarily on the union between energy systems and environmental management and the development of quantitative tools to address decision challenges in these areas. View more information on EEEPI.