Climate change insurance warning

The hurricanes of 2005 brought $65bn of damage

Climate change will lead to heftier insurance claims in the long term, insurer Swiss Re has warned.

It said there had been a relatively low number of natural disasters in 2006, causing a total of $48bn (£24.8bn) worth of damage.

This was far below the $230bn in 2005 - largely due to Hurricanes Rita, Wilma and Katrina.

But extreme weather conditions caused by global warming were "likely to aggravate the loss situation".

"Over the past decades, insured losses have shown a rising trend, due mainly to weather-related catastrophes," Swiss Re said.

Insurance firms paid out $15.9bn in catastrophe-related claims in 2006, with natural disasters making up $11.8bn of these, Swiss Re said.

Profitable

Many of the natural disasters occurred in the developing world, where there is less insurance cover and property is cheaper.

About 31,000 people died in catastrophes during 2006, including the earthquake in Bantul, Indonesia.

Disasters in 2005 claimed some 97,000 lives

Last month, two large insurers, Axa and Allianz, said the relative lack of major catastrophes last year had been good for their profits, which came in at 5.1bn euros and 7bn euros respectively.