Japanese insurers to base premiums on flood risks

Annual insurance payments top 1tn yen as natural disasters slam nation

20200803 Japan Kumamoto flood

Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, July 8, 2020. Japanese insurers want to incentivize companies to locate their operations away from flood plains. © Reuters

Nikkei staff writers

TOKYO -- Japan's major nonlife insurers will introduce policies for corporate customers that base premiums on degrees of flood disaster risk as the industry adjusts to weather patterns that are bringing more rain to the country and forcing them to make record high payouts.

Risk will be assessed by consulting government hazard maps. Premiums will be lowered by 2% to 3% in areas unlikely to flood and raised about 10% for those with higher risk.

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