The peak bodies representing personal and business insurers in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand called on Commonwealth leaders at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa to discuss worsening extreme weather and its impact on national economic and community resilience across the Commonwealth.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI), the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ), jointly wrote to the Prime Ministers of their respective nations calling for the issue to be put on the agenda.
This followed a Global Insurance Protection Gap Forum held in Sydney, Australia in mid-October involving the four leaders of the ABI, IBC, ICA, and ICNZ along with insurers, Australian government representatives and regulators.
The four associations collectively represent insurers writing approximately US$200b in gross annual premium, with their members playing an essential role in enabling individuals, communities and businesses to recover from the unexpected, and reduce risk across the economies in which they operate.
Operating in Commonwealth nations, the four organisations and their members face similar regulatory, political and financial environments, with their governments and regulators having similar tools at their disposal to implement solutions.
The Global Insurance Protection Gap forum agreed that:
• As extreme weather intensifies, populations expand and more homes are put in harm’s way, the insurance protection gap will widen.
• Flood risk is often concentrated in particular areas, but the widespread nature of flood risk is going to increase.
• Governments and insurers have a critical opportunity to collaborate across global markets to build a shared view of current and future hazard risk.
• We must stop locking further risk into our economies by building homes in the wrong places.
• Applying excessive taxes and levies to insurance premiums can directly affect the affordability of insurance coverage.
“Our nations share a common history and a future challenge with climate change. By working closely together our insurance representative bodies are committed to doing their bit to help reduce risk from natural hazards and protect our families and communities,” said Kris Faafoi, CEO, Insurance Council of New Zealand, as part of the joint submission.
“By reducing the protection gap we keep communities safe, reduce the costs to taxpayers and ratepayers and maintain insurance capacity and affordability.
"Just last year New Zealand experienced how devastating severe weather events can be on lives, livelihoods and communities. There is much to be gained by working together on these issues across the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand through policy work, relationships and our responses to natural disasters. Insurers stand ready to work with their own governments and across jurisdictions to proactively protect the things we hold dear, our communities and our countries, now and into the future.”
