Inadequate insurance against damages arising from a natural disaster

Because of the continuing increase in disaster-related losses due to population growth and rapid urbanization in areas at risk, and the effect of these escalating losses on the insurance and reinsurance industries, there is a greater need for better knowledge about vulnerability of buildings; potential losses could then be better assessed. There is also a need for the insurance industry to encourage the application of disaster mitigation strategies.

A study by the US Traveler's Corporation, an insurance giant based in Connecticut, found that even a modest 0.9 degree increase in average global temperatures could produce a 20-day extension of the hurricane season, a 33% jump in hurricane landfalls in the United States and a 30% rise in catastrophic losses from storms.

A 1977 hurricane in the UK resulted in over £1 billion of claims for damages, the largest amount ever paid out for a single UK weather catastrophe.