The worrying growth of extreme natural events and their socioeconomic impact over time is increasingly fuelling the debate on how to manage disasters in view of developing resilient and sustainable societies. One possible financial tool may be represented by insurance against natural hazards, such as earthquakes, floods, and landslides. From this perspective, the current article considers legislative attempts to build a Natural Hazard Insurance System (NHIS) in Italy. The (never promulgated) bills proposed over a time span of about 30 years were analysed by: (a) A text-mining technique, considering the extraction of relevant data for the research; (b) the careful reading of the texts and their cross-correlated critical analysis. Approximately forty bills have been proposed since the 1980s and they mainly concern the proposal of an NHIS based on a certain degree of compulsoriness (the voluntary system is contemplated only on a subordinate basis). Two possible main hurdles to the promulgation of such laws were inferred: the insurance scheme to be adopted and the issue of illegal buildings. Furthermore, the item of natural hazard risk perception was a factor not adequately considered by the bills. Based on the critical scrutiny of the bills and taking advantage of international experiences, the establishment of a voluntary national scheme managed by a public authority with specific competences on NHIS is proposed.

The aim of this article is to analyze the concept of “vulnerability” to natural disasters, focusing on the specific case of the Italian earthquake insurance. In this sense, we examine in detail the vulnerability definition and its relevance for citizens and for insurance companies. Then we investigate the Italian insurance market characterized by a very low penetration of natural disasters insurance and the potential effects of a recent Government initiative called “Sisma Bonus”. The idea is that its technical content, in terms of a specific definition of vulnerability, may contribute to developing a better consciousness about vulnerability and a larger diffusion of insurance products.

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.