ECONOMICS REPORT - Hurricanes and Insurance in Florida

ECONOMICS REPORT - Hurricanes and Insurance in Florida
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, September 17, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

People who own something valuable, like a house, want to protect themselves against financial loss. Natural disasters like fire, storms or flooding can damage or destroy valuable possessions. An agreement offering financial protection against loss is called insurance.

An insurance agreement is called a policy. It says that the policyholder will pay the insurance company an amount of money called a premium¹. In return, the company will pay for financial losses if something happens to the policyholder's property.

Recently, insurance in the American state of Florida has become a big issue. The state often suffers powerful ocean storms called hurricanes. Two major hurricanes, named Charley and Frances, recently hit Florida and caused a huge amount of damage.

In nineteen ninety-two, Florida suffered the most costly² natural disaster ever, Hurricane Andrew. Insurance companies paid almost twenty-one thousand million dollars to repair the damage.

 
Sailboats washed ashore³ at Fort Pierce, Florida
At the time, some insurance companies considered leaving Florida. They said that it was too risky⁴ to do business in the state.

After Hurricane Andrew, Florida changed its insurance laws. It began saving money for hurricane damage. The state formed an organization to provide some insurance for people who could not buy insurance from companies.

Florida permitted insurers to increase premiums⁵ by twenty-four percent or more. Insurance companies also stopped insuring about ninety thousand people in the state. Some companies split their Florida business from their main business.

Today, Florida law says that people with home insurance must pay from two to five percent of the value of their homes before insurance will pay for any repairs.

The Insurance Information Institute estimates that Hurricane Charley will be the third most costly natural disaster in American history. That does not include the effects of Hurricane Frances.

So far, insurers in Florida report that they have enough money to pay most insurance claims. But, experts say a few insurance companies may fail.

Insurance companies pay out one dollar and seven cents for every dollar they collect in premiums. Insurance companies make a profit by investing the money they collect.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Gwen Outen.

1 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

4 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

5 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》