Spring's warmer weather is a breath of fresh air for many of us ready to trade in winter coats for lightweight jackets.
But the season is not all sunshine and tulips.
On the heels of 27 weather events with $1 billion or more in damages in 2024, risk managers and insurance professionals are bracing for what the warmth of 2025 may bring.
In March, dust storms, wildfires, rain and tornadoes wreaked havoc across the U.S., resulting in the deaths of at least 42 people and massive property damage, according to news reports. The South, Northeast and parts of the Southwest will likely experience warmer-than-usual conditions between March and May this year. Below-average precipitation is expected in the southwest and Florida, and drought conditions are expanding across the southwest. Concerns loom about water shortages, detrimental wildfires and other climate-fueled weather devastation.
Major weather events like wildfires and hurricanes often give way to devastating secondary perils that include flooding, storm surges, mudslides and wind and ice storms. As the changing climate fuels this pattern of destructive weather, secondary perils are swiftly becoming primary risks and losses. In fact, at $150 billion, secondary perils were responsible for 65% of global insured losses in 2024, according to Gallagher Re.
An insurance shift is happening.
In reaction to unrelenting severe weather and the multitude of claims arising from it, insurers are becoming more stringent about what types of risks they are willing to insure, and at what cost. Instead of insurers competing for consumer business, they now need to be convinced of prospective and current policyholders’ insurability to feel comfortable taking a risk on. Insurers are looking for insureds to take an active role in mitigating their own risks, and they are starting to turn away those who rely on an insurance company to shoulder the burden of their poor prevention.
Your clients aren’t expecting this, and they likely aren’t ready to hear it, either.
And yet, insurance professionals who proactively engage and guide their customers to become more insurable will support them in taking more responsibility for their own risk mitigation, help them secure coverage and ensure they’re optimally protected for the future.
The slideshow above illustrates five strategies to make your prospective and current insureds more attractive to insurers.
Prepare your customers for the changing seasons.
Insurance is undergoing a seasonal shift just like our weather, and it’s up to brokers and agents to help prospects and insureds navigate this continuously evolving landscape. Insurance professionals that prioritize the insurability of their clients and position them as good risks will go far in securing the protections they need to weather the storm this spring and beyond.
Robb Lanham is chief sales officer at Hub International.
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