How climate change has altered the insurance equation

The modern insurance industry has operated under the same model for centuries: taking on other people’s risks for a fee, covering their losses if things go wrong.

Rob Wesseling, however, thinks that model is unsustainable in an increasingly risky world.

The president and CEO of Co-operators says policy premiums will keep rising as coverage of losses continues to decline — unless more is done to mitigate damages caused by climate change.

Instead of just “indemnity” — or recouping customer losses — he believes the industry needs to address climate-related risks head-on by helping customers become more resilient.

“Having great indemnity products that people can’t afford isn’t a great solution, so we need to do more than that,” he says. “Traditional insurance products will still be necessa