The so-called preparation advice from government officials, and even your newspaper, seemed directed at high-rise condo dwellers.

Thanks to their inaction, most of all by the state insurance division, most residents in single-family houses are being hung out to dry when it comes to natural disaster preparation.

In 14 states, but not Hawaii, laws require property insurance companies to put “skin in the game.” They require insurers to provide a flow of understandable advice, information and incentives for single-family homeowners and wood-framed townhouse projects.

Our single-family residents do not know what their insurance covers (i.e., what type of flooding?). They don’t realize the hurricane deductible is now averaging up to 20 times what they think it is. What if a tree falls on your house? What can be done to retrofit older houses to make them stronger and safer?

For insurers who collect millions or billions in Hawaii premiums to offer information and financial incentives to help homeowners take action on their own in other states — but not Hawaii — is unconscionable.

Gerry Peters

Kailua