South Africa’s insurance industry faces severe risks due to global warming but is also heavily responsible for the crisis, which could result in significant premium increases in the near future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ronald Richman, chief actuary at Old Mutual Insure, recently said that South Africa has seen an increase in major weather-related claims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile the country used to be a Catastrophic Event (CAT) free zone, the scale and magnitude at which disasters have taken place recently means we are now experiencing a dramatic shift in the CAT landscape,\u201d said Richman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Old Mutual Insure recorded ten major weather-related claim events, which included the Western Cape storms in June and September and the hailstorm in Gauteng and Mpumalanga in November 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa is not necessarily unique in this situation, with some experts believing that the US economy is overexposed to climate risks in a manner similar to the mortgage risks in 2008, which were a leading cause of the global financial crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Given this picture, it is not far-fetched to believe that climate change has the potential to destabilise the global insurance industry, with ripple effects for South Africa,\u201d said Richman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n