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Through fire and water: how new mechanisms of housing insurance against emergencies will protect owners
Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to provide support measures to flood victims by September and approve the concept of compulsory housing insurance against emergencies. The initiative is aimed at reducing the budget burden and speeding up payments to citizens who have lost property as a result of natural disasters. The new system should differentiate the functions of social support and insurance mechanisms, eliminating duplication of payments. All the details are in the Izvestia article.
Legislative gap and systemic problems
Vladimir Putin instructed to develop mechanisms for insuring residential premises against emergencies following a meeting with representatives of the municipal community. The document states that the government should work on this issue jointly with the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the concerned executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
A report on the developed mechanisms must be submitted by September 1, 2026. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has been appointed responsible for the execution of this order.
At the moment, housing insurance in Russia is advisory in nature, but the possibility of introducing compulsory insurance in regions subject to large-scale natural emergencies is being discussed.
The press services of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Finance of Russia confirmed to Izvestia that a joint study of the concept of residential insurance against natural and man-made emergencies is currently underway. The departments conceptually support the mechanism for protecting the property interests of citizens and are currently carrying out comprehensive work on changes to the damage compensation system jointly with the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Bank of Russia and the All-Russian Union of Insurers.
Initially, the federal law of 2019 granted regions the right to launch voluntary housing insurance programs against natural disasters. Practice has shown that not a single subject has achieved significant results. At the same time, the risks of floods and fires are growing, and the government spends billions on compensation every year. Ilya Ponomarev, head of the Public Control Commission of the Public Council under the Ministry of Construction of Russia, states: "Each new flood is accompanied by an instruction. Lensk, Krymsk, Orsk — the list is being updated, the answer does not change."
To solve the problem, the Ministry of Finance proposes to introduce compulsory insurance for certain categories of housing. The new model requires a distinction between social support and insurance mechanisms. Existing budget payments often duplicate insurance obligations, creating a burden on the regions. Targeted compensation for damages will eliminate the arbitrary allocation of funds.
The lost risk assessment system
Identification of high-risk areas will become a basic element of the system. The Soviet methodology for preventing natural disasters included seismic zoning, microseismic zoning, and antiseismic protection. The largest cities were built on this base. By the way, the Chinese school of urban planning was formed on the basis of Soviet developments that Shanghai and other megacities have developed to a modern level.
In Russia, this practice has been lost. The code of Rules "Construction Climatology" calculated extreme loads and risk zones throughout the country. Today, municipalities do not have the resources for such work, so master plans are drawn up formally.
— Everything that formed the basis of spatial risk analysis was declared "pseudoscience" and removed under the pretext of removing administrative barriers, — Ilya Ponomarev points out.
Underwriters (specialists whose activities are related to risk assessment and risk assumption) of insurance companies should be responsible for risk assessment and criteria formation, based on actuarial models, accumulated insurance statistics, as well as data from specialized services and departments, including the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Roshydromet and regional monitoring bodies, said the head of the Department of underwriting and product development. "Absolut Insurance" by Ksenia Goncharova. When assessing, it is necessary to take into account the frequency and scale of emergencies, geographical features of the territory, loss history and other objective risk indicators.
Meanwhile, technological capabilities make it possible to create a digital twin of the country in dynamics — an interactive system of maps of geological and climatological risks. These data should become the starting point for the placement of objects before the construction stage, which should be identified as an independent procedure.
A new edition of "Building Climatology" based on up-to-date data is required. The climate has changed: precipitation, temperatures, and wind patterns. Taking this information into account will make it possible to design sustainable facilities.
— This document should not exist in paper form, but as a live interactive monitoring system, — Ilya Ponomarev emphasizes.
Risk statistics and the global context
A generalized analysis of insurance companies' data shows that the largest number of incidents involving private homes in the first half of 2025 was recorded in the Moscow and Chelyabinsk regions. The Krasnodar and Primorsky Territories, the Tyumen Region and Udmurtia also entered the top 5. Floods (38%), fires (25%) and natural disasters (13%) prevail. The share of emergencies with individual housing has increased to 50%.
And according to very revealing data from the same European insurance agency Munich Re, global damage from natural disasters in 2025 amounted to $224 billion, insured losses — $108 billion. The wildfires in Los Angeles caused $53 billion in damage, of which $40 billion was covered by insurance. These figures confirm the need to build reserves.
Market concentration and tariff formation issues
The volume of the Russian insurance market in 2025 reached 4 trillion rubles (+6.9%), according to Expert RA data. The share of the ten largest premium companies is 75.1%, which indicates a high concentration. In large economies, an uninsured property is almost impossible: experts assess the risks, and buildings in flood zones are either not insured or protective rates are applied.
In Russia, this function has historically been performed by urban planning documents. The restrictions they set should not be considered as pressure on the market, Ilya Ponomarev believes. In matters of housing security, market opportunities should be regulated, including because the lack of transparent zoning practices can complicate market access for small insurers.
The insurance market has experience in managing major risks, however, for the effective functioning of the catastrophic event insurance system, a balanced mechanism for distributing responsibility between the state, insurers and the reinsurance market is necessary, Ksenia Goncharova notes. With a competent program architecture, the participation of insurance companies is quite realistic, but in the case of covering the most large-scale disasters, government support or special reinsurance mechanisms can become an important element of the system's sustainability.
Financial model and foreign experience
The cost of the policy will depend on the condition of the building and the exposure of the territory to risks. The base rate for an apartment is 100-200 rubles per month, for a private house in a dangerous zone — several thousand. Head of the research center "Analytics. Business. Law" (at the CCI of the Russian Federation) Venera Shaidullina notes: the system should not become a fiscal measure, payments should be made according to a clear algorithm.
Housing insurance against emergencies is a classic example of public—private partnership, when businesses solve government problems by taking care of citizens who have lost their homes as a result of emergencies, emphasizes Ekaterina Zenchenko, Director of Development and Underwriting of Rosgosstrakh Property Insurance. The higher the penetration of insurance, the greater the cost savings of the budget system of the Russian Federation.
For comparison, in France, disaster insurance is integrated into basic policies with state reinsurance. Japan and Taiwan use mandatory earthquake protection elements with solidarity funds.
At the same time, according to Susana Kirakosyan, Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation on entrepreneurship in the housing and communal services sector, insurance protection should include communal property — engineering networks, load-bearing structures and roofing.
Prospects for implementation
Standardization of procedures and digitalization of loss settlement will shorten payment periods. Reinsurance tanks should cover large-scale floods without recourse to budgetary reserves. Insurance compensates for the cost of restoring real estate, but does not replace engineering measures to protect territories.
Unlike the mechanisms for distributing budget assistance, insurance payments have a clearly regulated procedure and targeted nature, which ensures transparency in the use of funds and their receipt directly to the victim, Ksenia Goncharova notes. Insurance is the most transparent system possible — the payment of the insured amount is calculated according to the policy, adds Ekaterina Zenchenko.
The final parameters of the system will be determined by actuarial calculations that take into account the balance of interests of citizens, business and the state.
— Until the system is restored, after the next flood, there will only be regular orders, — sums up Ilya Ponomarev.
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