The role of insurance in the management of disaster risk: the case of the Italian cathedrals

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the role of insurance for the coverage of damages deriving from natural disasters, focusing on the specific case of the Italian cathedrals. In this sense, a survey was conducted among the Italian Dioceses asking them to complete a questionnaire, through which the data useful for the analysis of the spread of insurance contracts and for other qualitative and quantitative elements linked to the decisional process of being insured were collected. The achieved coverage is equal to 29.02% of the Italian Dioceses, corresponding to 65 answers of a total of 224 contacts. In particular, the questionnaires investigate insurance presence, perception and awareness, willingness to pay and future prospects. An in-depth analysis about all the data deriving from the survey is provided, trying to compare some results and finally some considerations are presented on future research perspectives. What emerges is in some aspects surprising, because it allows to identify a significant financial culture and knowledge of the importance covered by insurance in the governance of disaster risk: for 62% of the cases analyzed, they have already underwritten this type of contract.