Catastrophe Insurance Set to Soar After Year of Extreme Weather

From Florida to France to Australia, some insurers and reinsurers are faced with soaring costs after this year's extreme weather.

Natural catastrophes caused an estimated $115 billion in 2022, according to the Swiss Re Institute, with $50-$65 billion of that from #HurricaneIan alone. That’s nearly 50% above the 10-year average of $81 billion, and part of a steady 5-7% rise in insurable losses each year acording to the Financial Times.

That means a lot of pain for reinsurers like Swiss Re, which cover the risk for the insurers themselves. And that, in turn, means the cost of property catastrophe insurance is set to go up next — way up. British investment bank Peel Hunt estimates the cost may rise 30% in 2023, while Lloyd’s of London parent Beazly believes it could soar as much as 50%. As a result, the market for reinsurance is grinding to a halt as reinsurers and brokers tussle in repricing risk, with Aon’s top reinsurance executive warning of “friction and uncertainty.”

Clearly, this is no longer business as usual. As the soaring cost of reinsurance ripples through property markets, real estate in Florida and elsewhere will be repriced in tandem, while more resilient regions will look increasingly attractive in turn.

As reinsurers such as Lloyd’s of London and Swiss Re reprice the risk of climate catastrophes following another year of record-breaking year of insurable losses, what role will insurance and reinsurance play in real estate and site selection going forward?

Appearing on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast, Artemis.bm owner and Reinsurance News found Steve Evans mused about the potential impacts of government-mandated climate risk exposure.

“If you start to disclose that kind of thing and your shareholders are seeing these potential big negative numbers on your balance sheet — even if they don’t manifest it’s still something that really any sensible business owner should be taking steps to protect against. So, there’s also potentially going to be more demand [for insurance] that comes out of climate legislation as well.”

Growing demand at a time of soaring prices is guaranteed to help redraw the map of which regions, Zip codes, and buildings are considered trustworthy assets. Don’t wait for the insurance markets to do it for you — reach out to our team to learn how our Climate Price™ analytics produces risk-adjusted forecasts down to individual assets. Every place has a climate price — what’s yours?

Our tools help reinsurers and investors alike understand the new realities of resilient geographies and arrive at the “Climate Price.” Reach out to our team to learn more about how we can help you in the year ahead.