The Geneva Association, the think tank for the global insurance industry, has called for action to safeguard the availability and affordability of home insurance as global insured losses from natural catastrophes now consistently exceed €89 billion (USD 100 billion) each year.

In its recent report, ‘Safeguarding Home Insurance: Reducing exposure and vulnerability to extreme weather’, the Geneva Association examined the socioeconomic factors increasing exposure and vulnerability to extreme weather events and warn losses could  surpass €178 billion ($200billion) in 2025.

The losses are not only due to climate-change-driven weather events, but also to how and where properties are built – often in hazard-prone areas, with outdated codes and approaches that weaken natural buffers.

Rising costs of rebuilding, driven by inflation, supply chain issues, and labour shortages, are further compounding the impact and could push insurance affordability to a tipping point in some regions.

The report provides a practical roadmap for mitigating property risks and enhancing local resilience.

Jad Ariss, Managing Director of the Geneva Association, said: “Extreme weather is no longer a future threat – it’s disrupting lives and businesses today. But we’re not powerless. By urgently investing in stronger local building standards, nature-based solutions, and climate-resilient infrastructure, we can protect people and property and keep home insurance available and affordable. The cost of inaction will far outweigh the amount of investment needed.”

The report conducted an in-depth analysis of housing sectors in Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, and the US, identifying two tiers of action.

1) scaling proven, incentives-based local resilience strategies, and 2) implementing structural reforms, particularly in mortgage systems, and incorporating resilience in credit ratings.

Maryam Golnaraghi, Director Climate Change & Environment at the Geneva Association and lead author of the report, said: "Our findings point to the need to scale up targeted, local-resilience measures: retrofitting vulnerable homes and critical infrastructure; enforcing risk-based land zoning and updated building codes; and structural reforms in property-valuation and mortgage-lending systems linked to insurance markets."

The report highlights a widening “protection gap” — the portion of total economic losses that remains uninsured — with Asia having one of the highest gaps.

W Denis arrange specialist Natural Catastrophe Peril (including Flood) protection for organisations throughout Europe and the World. This includes both conventional (re)insurance as well as parametric solutions. For more information please contact:

Eastern Europe

Vida.Jarasiunaite@wdenis.eu

Southern Europe

Christos.Hadjisotiris@wdenis.com

Western Europe &/or elsewhere worldwide

Mark.Dutton@wdenis.com