News - Climate change insurance warning
It said there had been a allstate casualty insurance property
low number of natural disasters in 2006, causing a total of $48bn (24.8bn) worth of damage.
This was far below the $230bn in 2005 - largely due to Hurricanes Rita, Wilma and Katrina.
But extreme weather conditions caused by global warming were “likely to aggravate the loss situation”.
“Over the past decades, insured losses have shown a rising trend, due mainly to weather-related construction exposure insurance occupancy property protection
,” Swiss Re said.
Insurance firms paid out $15.9bn in catastrophe-related claims in 2006, with natural disasters making up $11.8bn of these, Swiss Re said.
Many of the natural disasters occurred in the developing world, where there is less insurance cover and property is cheaper.
About 31,000 people died in catastrophes during 2006, including the property insurance policy
in Bantul, Indonesia.
Property damage insurance in 2005 claimed some 97,000 lives
Last month, two large insurers, Axa and Allianz, said the relative lack of major catastrophes last year had been good for their profits, which came in at 5.1bn euros and 7bn euros respectively.