Shouldering the burden

Abstract Protection Gap Entities (PGEs) do not choose how to tackle uninsurability. Their remits are the product of often-tense negotiations about who should control the insurance market—the insurance industry or the government (control paradox)—and whether individuals or society are responsible for disaster protection (responsibility paradox). These differences arise from different sociopolitical contexts and economic conditions. However, they also arise from the specific problem being addressed, such as the sudden withdrawal of insurance after terrorist attack, or the increase in premiums that make insurance unaffordable after repeated floods. There is, thus, no “one best way” to decide whether the insurance market should be primarily controlled by the government or the industry and whether individuals or society should be primarily responsible to pay for protection. We show three different ways of balancing the control and responsibility paradoxes, each of which has different pros and cons for solving the problem of uninsurability.