"Record insured losses from wildfires, storms and floods hit $98 billion globally last year, with L.A. County’s January wildfires the costliest disaster of 2025."
"Never before has the insurance industry faced such big losses tied to floods, severe thunderstorms and wildfires, according to a fresh study that links rising temperatures to increasingly dangerous weather patterns.
Insured losses for so-called nonpeak perils — also sometimes referred to as secondary perils — reached a record $98 billion last year, Munich Re said in a report released Tuesday. Overall insured losses from natural disasters, including peak perils such as hurricanes, were $108 billion, it said.
Tobias Grimm, the German reinsurer’s chief climatologist, said secondary perils are “becoming more severe and more frequent in many parts of the world.” And the evidence points to climate change playing “an increasing role in this development,” he said in an interview."
Stephan Kahl reports for the Los Angeles Times January 14, 2026.
SEE ALSO:
"California Fire Victims Say Fighting With Insurance Companies Has Delayed Rebuilding" (NPR)
"Climate Insurance Legal Action Surges As Property Damage Costs Rise" (Financial Times)
Advertisement 
