According to UKNF, the average property insurance gap – measured as the share of buildings without coverage – stands at 44.6%. Even in areas exposed to a 1-in-500-year flood risk, the gap remains high at around 40%.
Earlier estimates by the Polish Insurance Association (PIU) showed significant differences by property type: around 72% of single-family houses were insured, compared with only 40% of apartments. The PIU also identified underinsurance as a significant issue, with insured sums frequently falling below the actual value of properties.
Natural catastrophe exposure is adding to these concerns. In 2025, fires accounted for more than 28% of catastrophe-related claims, while torrential rainfall, flooding, storms, hail and hurricanes were also important sources of losses.
UKNF also reviewed insurers' experience following the 2024 floods, examining the entire product cycle, from product design and policy distribution to renewals and claims settlement. The regulator identified both good and poor practices concerning flood waiting periods, consideration of property location, and the setting and updating of sums insured.
Particular attention was given to distributors' assessment of customer needs, including assistance in determining adequate sums insured. Claims handling also remains under supervisory scrutiny, with UKNF reviewing complaints and reported irregularities, including cases related to the 2024 floods and the 2025 residential building fire in Ząbki.
The findings reinforce concerns that Poland's property protection gap is not limited to the number of uninsured buildings but also includes insufficient coverage of properties that are already insured, as an earlier PIU report indicated that underinsurance may affect up to three out of ten properties, and in a survey of agents, 40% of respondents assessed the sums insured as rather lower than the value of the house or apartment.
Source: Gazeta Ubezpieczeniowa
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