One insurer in particular, Madison, Wisconsin based American Family Insurance, has been dealing with “storm claim losses significantly ahead of projections this year,” according to company spokesperson Steve Witmer.
Witmer also spoke of, “a powerful hailstorm that struck the Madison and Milwaukee areas in April, and other frequent wind and hailstorms in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois that have also proven costly to the company.”
In the past three decades “insurers have seen a 15-fold increase in insured losses from catastrophic weather events that has far exceeded growth in premiums, inflation and population over the same period,” according to a study by Ceres, an investor coalition.
In light of the past few years of intense storms, hurricanes and other powerful weather events the National Association of Insurance Commissioners established a task force this spring “to examine the impact of climate change on the U.S. insurance industry and insurance consumers.”
I have been thinking a lot lately about the planet and our treatment of it. The steady increase of disastrous storms, hurricanes and other weather events makes me wonder if it is due in part to our general poor treatment of our environment. After all we only have this one planet to live on, so taking care of it is a priority.
Comment Preview