In Confronting Climate Change, Weather Damage Claims Continue To Rise
By Lonce Lamonte - November 8, 2025
Weather related claims are on the rise. The same claims handling practices that pertain to non-weather related claims are significantly amplified in weather related claims.
In the year 2024, there were 27 events in the United States that cost a total of approximately 182 billion dollars and caused 568 deaths. In the last, previous five years, from 2020 to 2024, there was an average of 23 events per each year and ~ 149.2 billion dollars average losses per year including ~ 504 deaths per year.
From 2010 to 2019, there was an approximate average of only 13 events, ~ 99.00 billion dollars in average losses per year, but approximately 522 deaths each year. And going way back to the 1980s, there were an average of 301 deaths per year, ~ 21 billion annually in losses, and 3.3 events.
Clearly more weather-related damage with claims have occurred from 40 to 45 years ago until the end of last year.
This is all connected to climate change—from hurricanes, to tornados, to hail storms, rain storms, flooding, droughts, and wildfires.
In Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest v. Mississippi Valley Gas Company, having to do with business income losses, the 5th Circuit court held that solely monetary losses are not covered when a policy requires physical damage coverage because the policy requires physical damage to occur. The court held that the requirement that the loss be physical is widely held to exclude alleged losses that are intangible or incorporeal.
No physical property damage precludes any claim hen the insured merely suffers a detrimental economic impact. A claim must be accompanied by a clear damage and alteration to the property.
Mississippi Valley Gas Company was ruled during the COVID-19 pandemic and precluded coverage for any business losses associate with the pandemic. This same kind of principle could apply to a case where weather does not cause any property damage but electricity, water, and/or gas are interrupted and prevent a business from opening.
In Doxey v. Aegis Security Insurance Company, a property damage claim from the insured was submitted for damage caused by winds of Hurricane Laura. An anti-concurrent causation clause was in the policy which excluded damage from flooding.
Aegis Security Insurance denied coverage on the grounds that the covered structures were damaged by wind but then totally displaced and completely destroyed by a storm surge which meant massive flooding. The insured argued that under Louisiana law, an anti-concurrent coverage provision does not exclude coverage when the exempt cause occurs after the covered peril.
The insured submitted a statement from an engineer regarding the 150 mph winds and the likely effects on the house before the flooding storm surge. The engineer concluded the hurricane wind was the efficient and proximate cause of the total loss.
The court denied cross motions for summary judgment as there remained a real dispute of material fact as to whether the storm surge contributed to or caused the loss.
For any claim, it’s of the essence to document any and all efforts to contact the insured, even if unsuccessful, including attempts to schedule inspections.
The claim file should reflect the inspections performed. Also, any undisputed amount of a claim should promptly be paid.
Lonce Lamonte, journalist, adjustercom.com, lonce@adjustercom.com
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