The number of insured houses in Romania increased spectacularly in the previous year, reaching 58% from the 8.3 million insurable houses.

There is no doubt that this impressive evolution was driven by the Law no. 260/2008 which introduced the obligation of households� owners to insure their properties against natural catastrophic risks.

After a good start in the second half of last year, the number of mandatory household insurance policies decreased dramatically, to less than 300,000, due to legislative changes and the unfair competition with voluntary household insurance system.

Given this new context, The International CAtastrophic Risks Forum 2012 represents an excellent opportunity to debate the main aspects regarding mandatory and voluntary household insurance.