8.3.4 Increasing Demand for Flood Insurance in the Netherlands
Reversing the general low interest in flood insurance among the Dutch is therefore a commercially
desirable condition for private insurers to sell flood insurance in the Netherlands. As with other natural
disasters, demand for insurance peaks dramatically following a severe incident. Then typically it tapers
off over time until the next incident reminds people why taking out that particular type of insurance
might be a prudent investment. Unfortunately, for the private flood insurance sector at least, there have
been no very serious floods since the 1953 Great North Sea flood. Data is surprisingly difficult to locate,
but according to Watervragen (2013) there have been seven notable flood events and a small handful
of ‘near misses’ when people were evacuated but the dike held. No data could found on possible
smaller floods.
Dike
Sea Floods River
Rain
Breaches
Floods
1953 1984
1960
1998
(Maas)
(Tuindorp)
1993
2003
(Wilnis)
1995
(Rhine)
Total
1 3 2 1
Incidents
Table 4: Floods in the Netherlands since 1953 (Watervragen, 2013)
Notwithstanding the overall cost of the damage these floods inflicted, for a country that is as exposed to
flood risks as the Netherlands, it is impossible to dispute that this is a very low number. Extensive
public investments in flood protection infrastructure and water management expertise in general are
behind this impressive track record. That the Dutch today have a low perception of flood risk is not
surprising. If demand for private flood insurance is to increase the Dutch public will either have to be
exposed to far more flooding or, as is suggested by (Botzen, 2010) encouraged into purchasing flood
insurance through public or private informational campaigns that inform them of the risks they face from
the spectre of pending climate change. Such public informational campaigns have met with limited
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success and are reported to have little impact due to a lack of personal connection to the main
messages being put across (EP, 2013).
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