Dems support cat fund

Risk & Insurance, Oct 1, 2008

The Democratic Party adopted on the first day of its August convention a platform that calls for the creation of a national catastrophe fund. An advocate for the program, ProtectingAmeriea.org, claims the move was a first for a major political party. The group also supports the Homeowners' Defense Act of 2007, H.R. 3355, passed by the House last November, which would allow states to pool catastrophic risks and then transfer them to the private market through the sale of catastrophe bonds or purchase of reinsurance.

An opposition group that includes members of the reinsurance industry, Americans for Smart Natural Catastrophe Policy, released a report estimating there would be an enormous cost to taxpayers for a catastrophe insurance program.