Ubezpieczenie skutków katastrof naturalnych jako nietechniczny środek ochrony przed powodzią w Polsce w świetle badań empirycznych

Our article raises the subject of reducing the scale of the negative effects of floods through natural disaster insurance. Motivation for our research were floods, that in 2001-2010 affected southern and western Poland, causing major damages. These events have brought up public debate about possibilities and limitations of natural disaster insurability in Poland, that could help to compensate for property damage when catastrophe risk fulfills. The aim of the study was to investigate the possibilities and barriers in the availability of catastrophic insurance as non-technical means of protection against flooding. In this context, the authors paid particular attention to the opportunities and barriers in the availability of this measure for people living in areas at risk of flooding, focusing in particular on the problem of the low level of voluntary buyout of disaster insurance. Eight areas in southern Poland were selected as case studies: 1. Bieruń; 2. Bogatynia; 3. Tarnobrzeg; 4. Budzów and Zembrzyce communes; 5. Lądek Zdrój and Kłodzko commune; 6. Wadowice Górne and Szczucin commune; 7. Tuchów commune; 8. Brzostek and Pilzno communes. The selection of sites was based on several criteria, among which frequency of floods was decisive. They were also chosen in terms of the types of floods affecting them (flash or slow floods,), size of the communities (rural areas, small or medium-size towns), and location within historical regions in Poland. Our findings were obtained through a set of research tools, which included: an overview of European and national law on natural disaster insurance systems, analysis of legal, economic and social conditions of Polish insurance market, identification of practices of insurance companies in Poland and finally a personal in-home survey carried out in 2014 in 808 households located in above mentioned localities affected by floods. This investigation covered issues of vulnerability and resilience of households to floods.