Recent discussions held in Croatia and Poland point to a growing consensus across the insurance industry: climate change is fundamentally reshaping the property insurance landscape, forcing insurers to rethink both risk assessment and customer engagement strategies.

At an Allianz Croatia event dedicated to risk awareness and property insurance, experts warned that natural catastrophes are becoming more frequent, more severe and increasingly difficult to predict. Earthquakes, floods, droughts, landslides and extreme heat events are no longer isolated occurrences but part of a broader pattern that requires a new approach to risk management.

“Traditional approaches to risk management must change,” participants agreed, emphasizing that resilience and preparedness should become central pillars of insurance strategies. Allianz Croatia's CEO Marijana Jakovac underlined that insurers can no longer limit their role to paying claims after disasters occur. Instead, they must become active partners in informing clients, promoting prevention and helping communities better understand their exposure to risk.

The Croatian debate also highlighted the growing importance of education and awareness. Experts noted that while public concern about climate change is increasing, many individuals still lack practical knowledge on how to prepare for climate-related threats. As a result, insurers are increasingly investing in tools and initiatives that help policyholders identify vulnerabilities before losses occur.

A similar message emerged during the Polish Brokers Congress, where InterRisk hosted a panel dedicated to climate change and property insurance. Prof. Szymon Malinowski, one of Poland’s leading climate scientists, described the insurance industry as a “canary in a cage” for the wider economic impacts of global warming.

According to Malinowski, accelerating climate change is generating new categories of risk that are systemic, multidimensional and interconnected. These risks stem from the interaction between climate, environmental, social and economic systems, making them far more difficult to quantify using conventional actuarial methods.

One of the key concerns raised in Poland was the growing inadequacy of historical loss data as a basis for future risk assessment. Traditional underwriting models rely heavily on past experience, but rapidly changing climatic conditions are making those datasets less reliable. As a result, insurers increasingly need innovative analytical tools capable of capturing emerging risks and evolving exposure patterns.

The discussions in both countries reveal a common trend: the property insurance sector is moving from a reactive to a proactive model. Prevention, climate adaptation, advanced risk analytics and customer education are becoming as important as claims settlement itself.

Another notable development is the growing integration of scientific expertise into insurance decision-making. Whether through climate research, ESG considerations or location-based risk assessment technologies, insurers are seeking new ways to understand complex risk dynamics and improve resilience.

Ultimately, the message from both Croatia and Poland is that climate change is not only increasing the frequency and severity of losses but also challenging the very foundations of traditional risk modelling. For insurers, success will increasingly depend on their ability to combine scientific knowledge, technological innovation and preventive action in order to navigate an environment where the past is no longer a reliable guide to the future.