A sixth $100 billion catastrophe year: what claims teams should automate first

Swiss Re Institute published its preliminary 2025 estimate in December, and the headline is becoming routine: insured natural catastrophe losses passed USD 100 billion for the sixth year in a row, at USD 107 billion.

Two details matter more for claims operations than the total.

First, the LA wildfires were the costliest wildfire event ever recorded, with insured losses of USD 40 billion. Second, severe convective storms (hail, tornadoes, thunderstorms) caused USD 50 billion of insured losses, the third costliest year on record after 2023 and 2024. Swiss Re's head of catastrophe perils put it plainly: single storms rarely produce a large insured loss, so insurers need to consider "the cumulative effect of frequent, low-loss events".

Frequent, smaller events are a volume problem

A single large event is a surge. A steady run of hail and wind events is a workload. Each one produces thousands of modest property and auto claims, most of them simple, all of them needing intake, documents, an estimate, a decision and a payment. Even a year that looks quiet in total, with no US hurricane landfall in 2025, can keep a claims office at capacity.

That is the profile where agents pay off: high volume, repeatable steps, and a clear line between preparing a decision and making one.

What to automate first

Three pieces of work stand out:

1. Intake and triage. First notice of loss arrives by phone, web form, email and broker. An agent can take the report, check the policy is in force for the date of loss, tag the event and peril, and route the claim by complexity. Simple claims go to a fast track; anything with injury, liability or a coverage question goes to an adjuster.
2. Document assembly. Photos, contractor estimates, invoices and proof-of-ownership arrive in every format. A document agent can classify them, extract the line items, flag what is missing and request it, so the adjuster opens a complete file instead of an inbox.
3. Status and follow-up. Updates to the policyholder and the contractor, by text, email or voice, written back to the claim. This is the work that quietly consumes adjuster hours during a busy season.

The design principle regulators keep repeating

Coverage decisions are where regulators are watching. The NAIC's model bulletin on insurers' use of AI had been adopted by 24 states as of March 2025.

We build to the same rule. Agents take the report, gather the documents and draft the summary. A licensed adjuster decides coverage and settlement, and every recommendation can be traced back to the evidence behind it.

Sources

1. 2025 marks sixth year insured natural catastrophe losses exceed USD 100 billion, finds Swiss Re Institute, Swiss Re, December 16, 2025.
2. Nearly Half of States Have Now Adopted NAIC Model Bulletin on Insurers' Use of AI, Quarles & Brady, April 2, 2025.