In 2020, global economic losses from natural catastrophes totaled $190 billion, according to the Swiss Re Institute, which added that insured losses from all of last year's disaster events equated to $89 billion — the fifth highest on the institute's records. It seems as if every year, the insurance industry braces for weather that is more severe than the year prior. Take, for instance, this year's Atlantic hurricane season forecast. After a record 30 named storms in 2020, Colorado State University predicts at least 17 named storms will form in 2021, with eight expected to reach hurricane strength. At this time last year, the university estimated 16 storms for the season. Wildfires also raged across the nation in 2020. An estimate from RMS released in December 2020 placed insured losses from the 2020 Western U.S. fires between $7-13 billion. A recent report from CCG IQ, a provider of claims and underwriting solutions to the insurance industry, offers claims insights from 2020, such as reported vs. actual cause of loss, repair and replacement costs, and common exposures that affect insurance policies. The annual report also provides information to help inform carriers during the underwriting process, such as identifying the top five states with a high potential for earthquakes, fires, floods, hail, hurricanes, tornadoes and wind. Click through the above slideshow to see the states most at risk of these perils. "Hazard data is critical for an individual policy; however, analyzing national trends can reveal where carriers may need to spend more time evaluating for hazards that could impact their policies," says CCG IQ in the report. Additionally, the firm also graded natural disasters with hazard scores, numerical grades used to rank potential natural exposures and other risks to property.

Source: CCG IQ 2020 Annual Report

This type of information, CCG IQ says, helps underwriters "have all the necessary information to determine if coverage should be afforded or if the risk is too high." Related: |

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