03 August 2015
DEFINITION of 'Catastrophe Insurance' Insurance to protect businesses and residences against natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes, and against man-made disasters such as terrorist attacks. These low-probability, high-cost events are generally excluded from standard hazard insurance policies, and so catastrophe insurance is required.
INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS 'Catastrophe Insurance' Catastrophe insurance is different from other types of insurance in that it is difficult to estimate the total potential cost of an insured loss and a catastrophic event results in an extremely large number of claims being filed at the same time. This makes it difficult for catastrophe insurance issuers to effectively manage risk. Reinsurance and retrocession are used along with catastrophe insurance to manage catastrophe risk.