Climate & Cat Risk is InsTech’s monthly newsletter dedicated to sustainability, climate and natural catastrophe-related insurance news.
Are SCS models keeping up with the risk?
Were you one of the 340 people that joined us in London for our Exponential Risk event a couple of weeks ago? If you want to get a flavour of that, our 2-minute video is racing up the YouTube charts. With 70 speakers, there were too many highlights to mention – but David Vicary from Brit gave an excellent closing presentation reviewing Severe Convective Storm (SCS) risk, footage from his tornado chasing adventures and his pet life size giant hailstone.
You don’t need us to tell you how hard SCS is to model and price for. We are already seeing a shift in the impact of SCS as the annual spring tornado season shifts east away from the plains states towards the southern US states. Earlier this month, more than 120 tornadoes hit 11 states in three days. Look out this year as both established catastrophe modellers and the newer arrivals build and upgrade their models and companies such as Demex provide new parametric solutions to help address the issue of vanishing reinsurance coverage.
Seismic synergy: the future of earthquake risk management and parametric insurance
Our latest article, based on our recent webinar with Safehub, Liberty Mutual Reinsurance and the USGS, examines how real-time seismic sensors and parametric insurance are transforming earthquake preparedness and protection.
Sensor based insurance: Real-time flood forecasting with Previsico
Our webinar featuring Previsico, Balfour Beatty Vinci and Descartes examined how real-time flood sensors and parametric insurance are reshaping flood risk management. You can read our article that highlights key insights from the discussion or watch the webinar on demand.
Climate and Cat Risk news
Lloyd’s reports $2.3 billion loss from LA wildfires
This announcement comes as Lloyd’s reports a 6% increase in gross written premiums for wildfire in 2024.
Moody’s records 7,112 US wildfires in 2025
This is a 37% increase over the ten-year average, indicating an expanded risk profile and longer wildfire seasons due to changing climate conditions.
ZestyAI reports $2.1 trillion of US Properties at high wildfire risk
ZestyAI’s analysis is based on an evaluation of 126 million properties.
PERILS reports €619 million loss from Windstorm Éowyn
Windstorm Éowyn affected Ireland and parts of the UK in January 2025. This marks the largest windstorm loss in Ireland in 45 years and in the UK since February 2022.
Industry updates
HDI Global launches Climate Consulting service
The service will assist businesses in assessing and managing climate-related risks. It will also provide tools for analysing location-specific risks and developing mitigation strategies to address climate change impacts.
EDF Renewables integrates Fathom’s flood data for site selection
Fathom’s data will be used to assess flood risk for solar and wind project sites. The data supports evaluation of fluvial, pluvial, and coastal flooding risks.
MSCI partners with Swiss Re to develop climate risk assessments
The partnership combines MSCI’s GeoSpatial Asset Intelligence with Swiss Re’s natural catastrophe data to provide asset-level insights for risk assessment and mitigation.
JBA Risk Management’s initiatives in China and Australia
Ping An Insurance has licensed high-resolution flood maps from JBA to support flood risk assessments in China. Simultaneously, JBA has introduced a flood model in Australia, developed to provide insights and support flood risk management in urban areas.
QBE Foundation supports Salem flood resilience programme
The programme from QBE North America Foundation, in collaboration with InnSure and the City of Salem, includes home resilience audits and integrated insurance solutions.
AXA XL Introduces SAMI for construction sustainability benchmarking
AXA XL’s Sustainable Building Practices Adoption Maturity Index (SAMI) benchmarking service supports North American contractors to assess and compare sustainable building practices.
WTW, KIT and NASA expand hail risk research collaboration
The collaboration will update the Willis European hail model with satellite data and climate analysis to improve understanding of hailstorm frequency, intensity and risk.
Funding and acquisitions
Previsico raises funding for US expansion
Led by Burnt Island Ventures, the investment will aid in scaling Previsico’s flood forecasting technology, which uses real-time weather data and IoT devices to assess flood risk.
Floodbase raises $5 million to expand flood insurance solutions
The funding from Ecosystem Integrity Fund and Pulse Fund will support the development of parametric flood insurance programmes and aid in expanding coverage for uninsured losses.
Reask secures $4 million investment
With funding from BlueOrchard’s InsuResilience Investment Fund Private Equity II, Reask aims to develop extreme weather risk modelling and expand into new perils.
