NEWBURYPORT — Local residents will have the opportunity to dive deeper into climate-driven insurance market disruption when Storm Surge Newburyport hosts Charlie Sidoti, executive director of InnSure, on Monday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. at the Newburyport Senior/Community Center, 331 High St., Newburyport, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. for refreshments.
Those who attend “When Insurance Markets Fail: Community Solutions for Climate-Threatened Homeowners,” will learn about the current state of climate-driven insurance market disruption, how “residual insurance programs” function as markets of last resort, and practical steps that homeowners and municipalities can take to reduce flood risk.
The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session, providing an opportunity for residents to explore how these innovations might apply to Newburyport’s specific circumstances. NCMHub will broadcast the event with an online archive available for those unable to attend in person.
In 2024, natural disasters caused $320 billion in worldwide losses, yet only $140 billion was actually insured. This staggering “protection gap” isn’t just a statistic – it’s reshaping how American families think about protecting their most valuable asset: their homes.
From Florida’s collapsing private insurance market to Massachusetts ranking fifth highest in homeowner policy nonrenewals in 2023, climate change is fundamentally disrupting how insurance works. For homeowners, this crisis translates into fewer choices, higher costs, and mounting anxiety about whether they can even secure the coverage they need.
The real-world impact extends far beyond premium increases. When homeowners struggle to understand what insurance they actually need, face expensive flood insurance requirements, or discover that inadequate coverage can block home sales or mortgage approvals, the entire housing market feels the strain.
When major insurers abandon markets, homeowners find themselves forced into state-run “fair plans” – typically offering lower coverage limits at higher premiums.
The cascade effect is profound: Without available insurance, banks hesitate to issue mortgages, property values decline and entire communities face economic instability. It’s a challenge that demands new thinking.
Enter InnSure is a Cambridge-based nonprofit that’s pioneering a radically different approach. Rather than focusing solely on individual risk assessments, InnSure calculates the total cost of risk for entire vulnerable communities, then partners with insurers to create tailored solutions that could include insurance discounts, group coverage options, or community mutual insurance approaches.
The concept moves from theory to practice in Salem, where InnSure has partnered with the QBE North America Foundation to launch a groundbreaking flood resilience pilot program in late 2025. This first-of-its-kind Massachusetts initiative offers something unprecedented: free comprehensive home resilience audits combined with community-embedded insurance solutions that actually reward climate adaptation efforts.
The program represents a fundamental shift in how we think about insurance – from a product that simply pays out after disasters to one that actively encourages and supports prevention at both household and community levels.
As a coastal community facing similar vulnerabilities – including risks to municipal water supplies and the tax base – Newburyport has much to learn from Salem’s pioneering approach.
The innovations being tested there could provide a roadmap for other coastal communities grappling with the intersection of climate change and insurance accessibility. With plans to expand to Plymouth and beyond, InnSure’s model offers hope for communities nationwide that find themselves caught between rising seas and retreating insurers.
The event is free and open to the public. While not required, RSVPs are encouraged for planning purposes at storm-surge.org.
The Storm Surge Speaker Series is sponsored by the Institution for Savings.