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Some 398 global natural disaster events caused a $380B economic loss in 2023, up from the $355B loss in 2022 and 22% above the 21st-century average, insurance broker Aon (NYSE:AON) reported this past week.
The biggest loss event in 2023 was February’s Turkey and Syria earthquakes, resulting in an economic loss of $92.4B and an insured loss of $5.7B. From there, floods in China during the May-September period drove a $32.2B economic loss and a $1.4B insured loss. The report noted that most disaster losses were identified in the U.S., though most losses remained uninsured in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Asia-Pacific (NASDAQ:APAC) and Americas.
As such, global insurance losses remained elevated, closing out the year 31% above the 21st-century average, according to Aon’s (AON) annual Climate and Catastrophe Insight report, exceeding $100B for the fourth consecutive year. Insurers are required to set aside capital – typically a portion of revenue – to cover any potential policyholder claims.
With insurance covering just $118B (vs. $151B in 2022), or 31% of total losses, the so-called protection gap widened to 69% from 58% in the previous year, underscoring the urgency to expand insurance coverage. Aon (AON) describes the protection gap as a reference point of the wider insurance industry as it shows the level of financial vulnerability across communities.
In addition to climate change and increases in disaster exposure, inflation – which drives up recovery costs – could be one of the drivers behind elevated insured losses.
“The findings of the report highlight the need for organization – from insurers to highly impacted sectors such as construction, agriculture and real estate – to utilize forward-looking diagnostics to help analyze climate trends and mitigate the risk, as well as protecting their own workforces,” said Andy Marcell, CEO of Risk Capital and CEO of Reinsurance at Aon.
Some U.S. insurers have boosted insurance premiums in states that are increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change, including Florida and Louisiana. A handful of carriers actually have ceased operations in such areas.
Recall in August the wildfires that swept across Hawaii’s Maui island. Property and casualty insurers exposed in the state’s homeowners insurance market, such as Allstate (NYSE:ALL) and American International Group (NYSE:AIG), were expected to pay premiums to reinsurers to help cover losses above certain thresholds. This is a risk-management tool for insurers to protect themselves from large financial losses in the event of any natural disaster.
Some insurers, meantime, have recently seen some moderation in the catastrophes they're covering. Travelers Companies’ (NYSE:TRV) Q4 results, for example, showed that its catastrophe losses dropped to $125M pretax from $850M in Q3 and $459M a year ago. Also, Allstate (ALL) said earlier this month that its catastrophe losses stayed below the $150M reporting threshold for the last month of 2023.
Other P&C insurers: Aflac (NYSE:AFL), Trisura Group (OTCPK:TRRSF), Chubb (NYSE:CB), Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG), Marsh McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC), Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) and Progressive (NYSE:PGR).