Japanese homeowners buying more quake insurance

Earthquake insurance sales to Japan’s homeowners rose more than 400% following the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.

Figures from the Non-Life Insurance Rating Organisation of Japan (NLIRO) showed a total of 130,776 new polices were issued in April, compared with 23, 847 in April 2010.

Insurers had a total of 12.87m earthquake policies in the month, 4.7% more than April 2010, according to Bloomberg.

The catastrophe destroyed or damaged more than 530,000 homes, many from the tsunami generated by the seismic activity.

Source: GlobalReinsurance.com