Insurance industry financial strength rating agency AM Best said today that a decision to stop updating a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration disaster database could be detrimental to insurers and may require the rethinking of some products.
About two weeks ago NOAA announced it will “retire” a free, public database of climate and weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage, “with no updates beyond calendar year 2024.” Past reports from 1980-2024 will be archived.
AM Best said the move could affect insurers’ ability to track losses from so-called secondary perils such as