Nothing like temperatures in the triple digits to remind us it’s summer.
Mother Nature appears to be taking a breather between hot flashes, with temps in northern Illinois expected to approach 100 degrees again next week.
As with most trends, stifling heat affects the insurance industry, too.
No matter how one explains climate change, it’s clearly changing and heat brings with it droughts, brush fires and wildfires. June brought 3,215 record highs nationwide, according to meteorologist Paul Douglas, and this may be the hottest summer on record.
An increase in hot days and heat waves directly affects health, life, property, business interruption and crop insurance.
This increased volatility and potential for losses contribute to increasing insurance premiums, additional risk to policy holders, higher deductibles and the potential for lack of insurance availability, especially on the coasts.
“The insurance industry, which comprises 10% of the U.S. economy, is the canary in the coal mine for climate change,” Writes Tim Wagner for the Civil Society Institute, a think tank in Newton, Massachusetts. “And while the canary is not dead, it has stopped singing. Insurers are already contending with the growing risks and costs associated with the changing climate coupled with coastal migration in the form of increased claims relating to hurricanes.”
What’s a consumer to do?
Keep a cool head with these tips:
- Combat higher premiums and higher deductibles by shopping around among reputable, well-resourced insurance companies.
- If you attribute climate change to the increase greenhouses gases, it behooves you to use energy efficient vehicles, appliances and construction methods as well as reducing your carbon footprint through lifestyle choices. Some insurers offer discounts for energy efficiency.
- Take care! At least 18 people died in Chicago’s Cook County following the heat wave that ended Saturday. Long periods of hot weather are particularly dangerous if you don’t get the chance to cool off at night. Cut the odds of being the next victim of heat stroke by avoiding any strenuous outdoor activity during extremely hot weather. If you must be outdoors, stay out of the sun and drink lots of water.
Stay cool!