Thanks to the September deluge whose effects could be likened to a war minus the aerial bombardment, “people are more conscious of insurance now.” Yes, they’re even claiming that their cars were stolen by carnappers, in hopes of collecting bigger compensation for the loss of the entire vehicle, when those were only flood-damaged.

Nonlife insurance being the topic of our “Bulong Pulungan” at Sofitel, Michael Rellosa, Herminia Jacinto, and Victoria Roman answered questions on what victims of calamities or catastrophes may claim against their insurance. I was not surprised that the three attributed the unusual volume of rain to an act of God (AOG), therefore not claimable. However, one of them said “other factors” – manmade – contributed to the flooding – which was why the industry has been doing their bit to pay up. Possibly the most expensive claim (P1.5 million) has been paid to an executive of the Asian Development Bank for his waterlogged, mud-caked Mercedes-Benz.

Filipinos are almost phobic about insuring themselves, their future, loved ones and prized possessions, either because they do not believe bad things happen to good people or they have better ways of spending their money. At any rate, the 87 nonlife insurance firms hereabouts have a net worth of R58 billion, whereas “Ondoy” claims are estimated at R15 billion only, which means they are not about to sink. Besides, they are “heavily insured” with reinsurers here and abroad.

As the floods are about to recede from our short-term memories, there’s space and time to think earthquake. Mr. Rellosa, quoting Phivolcs, warns that the “Marikina fault has not moved in 200 years,” so a quake “is expected, not predicted.”

Ms. Roman recalled that when she was in Padang, Indonesia, last year, geologists there warned of an “imminent” earthquake but the people just shrugged off the warning, the conventional wisdom being that earthquakes are unpredictable. How could they have known that in a matter of days, the warning would come to pass?