Background information

In August 2023, the extreme weather event 'Hans', which affected areas of southern Norway, as well as parts of Sweden, Finland, the Baltics, and nearby regions, led to extensive flood and landslide damage in eastern Norway. In the aftermath, the Norwegian government published information on financial arrangements to ensure that private individuals, municipalities, and county councils are not left with a substantial financial burden alone. The Natural Damage Insurance Act is a Norwegian law that extended insurance against fire damage to also cover natural damage. This coverage only applies if the damage to the item in question is not covered by other insurance. 'Natural damage' refers to destruction caused by natural disasters, including, but not limited to, avalanches, landslides, and volcanic eruptions. Introduced in 1979, a key objective of the natural damage insurance regulation was to ensure that compensation for such damage would be provided by insurance companies in accordance with insurance principles. In exceptional cases, the state's natural damage scheme can cover damage to objects that cannot be insured through standard private insurance. All insurance companies that offer fire insurance in Norway are mandated by Norwegian law to be part of the Norwegian Natural Perils Pool (https://www.naturskade.no/en/), which includes companies operating across borders from other EEA countries. In 1988, the ministry proposed that the rules for natural damage insurance be established as a separate act, known as the 'Lov om naturskadeforsikring, LOV-1989-06-16-70'.

Content of measure

The Norwegian natural disaster insurance provides a safety net for individuals and ensures that buildings and personal property covered by fire insurance are also protected against natural damage. In the event of such damage, the compensation is processed by the conventional insurance companies.

This insurance is available to both homeowners and businesses. If a person has an insurance for main home or holiday home, it also protects against natural damage to the garden, including the surrounding land, up to 5 acres.

Some exceptions apply to what is covered by the scheme. This includes damage to forests, uprooted crops, goods in transit. Motor vehicles and car trailers are not covered. Compensation for these depends on the insurance cover you otherwise have.

The natural damage insurance is built on a solidarity principle: everyone pays the same insurance rate, no matter where they live or how high their risk is for landslides, floods, or other natural events. This way, the risk associated with where we live is shared across all residents of the country.

The cost for natural damage covered is set, as of 2023 at 0.065 per thousand of the insured fire sum. There is a deductible of NOK 8,000 (€677) that the insured person has to pay for each incident of natural damage. The insurance companies' overall liability in the event of a single natural disaster is limited to 16 billion NOK (€1.4 billion). If a disaster costs more than this, which is highly unlikely, the homeowners would have to accept a proportional reduction of the compensation.

Use of measure

No information on the use of the measure.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies	Other

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement as case not in social partner domain	No involvement as case not in social partner domain
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No involvement by social partners.

Views and reactions

No information available.

Sources

• 25 August 2023: Financial support schemes in the event of extreme weather (www.regjeringen.no)