Climate change: a hurricane in the insurance sector

From storms to health problems, climate change is causing a wave of change in the insurance industry.

We recently realized here at Zap that banks had already begun to realize the – particularly their influence on loan approvals.

Now, also the insurance industry It begins to feel the impact that climate change can have on its activity, says Zme Science.

In early 2025, in just three months, UK insurers paid a record of about 270 million euros in climate -related residential insurance compensation.

In January, she hit her Ireland and Scotland, leaving almost one million homes without energy. This was the eighth consecutive quarter in which compensation for property damage exceeded 118 million euros.

The United Kingdom It is not an exception.

On the other side of the Atlantic, homeowners in Texas have a 43% increase in insurance prizes from 2023. Until 2025, the average policy is expected to cost 443 euros annually.

Insurers They paid 36.4 million euros on catastrophes’ losses In the last five years in Texas, mainly due to hailstorms, hurricanes and floods. In California, large insurers have ceased to issue new policies, largely due to the risks of forest fires.

Climate change are destabilize the insurance industryreturning to inaccessible or unavailable coverage in high risk areas.

The storm has arrived

Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence, climate change is still discarded by some like a farce or a distant threat that will not affect them personally. This wrong conception is dangerously misaligned with reality.

Climate -caused disasters are already disturbing lives, economies and industries around the world – since Flooding Record in Germany and Pakistan, the Forest fires in California and Greecethe heat waves that kill thousands of people throughout Europe.

Insurance markets, once stable risk management pillars, are now give in to the cost of these events.

Whole regions are becoming too risky to holdand the awards are firing to millions. Far from being a future concern, climate change is a current crisis, to reshape the financial systems we depend on to recover from disasters.

The insurance model is based on risk distribution by many insured. But climate change are increase frequency and gravity of disasters, leading to higher compensation and prizes.

In 2023, natural disasters caused 337 billion euros in losses Totals globally, with only 105 billion euros covered by insurance.

As reinsurancewhich provide support coverage for insurers, are increase prices and tighten the terms – What repercussions on consumers through Higher awards or canceled coverage. In some cases, whole regions are becoming unconceable.

As small and medium -sized companies are especially vulnerable; many are now seeing the prizes of their insurance for business owners to shoot or their Canceled Covers after consecutive climate disasters.

The “protection pit” – the growing division between total losses and what insurance really covers – is especially accentuated in developing countrieswhere more than 90% of disaster losses are not insured.

Even in richer nations, Insurers are being withdrawn of high risk zones, leaving more people and companies exposed.

Despite the overwhelming number of scientific studies that show the acceleration of climate change and the severity of its consequences, there is no lack of those who Deny this evidence – from individuals and companies to prominent politicians and rulers.

No scientific proof is able to counteract a preconceived and rooted opinion. But there is a “force of nature” capable of doing it: money.

And as the consequences of climate change begin to cost more – directly in the pocket of people or the value of assets -What to fight them, negationisms will tend to become activism.

The banks have already noticed him. The insurers too.