The 2025 loss picture
Aon’s 2026 Climate and Catastrophe Insight report puts Australian insured losses from natural disasters at approximately US$2.9 billion for 2025, driven by storms, floods and cyclones. The headline event was Ex-Cyclone Alfred, which caused extensive damage across multiple states and regions.
Three findings carry weight for broker conversations. Individual catastrophe years are increasingly driven by an accumulation of mid-sized events rather than a single headline disaster – a pattern that catches clients off guard when they’re anchored to “Black Summer” as the reference point. Storm, flood and bushfire exposures intersect with infrastructure, supply chains and housing in ways that amplify business interruption for SMEs and corporates alike. And Australia’s loss experience sits within a global pattern of volatility that directly shapes reinsurance pricing and the capacity available to local carriers.
Soft rates, rising losses: the combination to work with
Against this backdrop, the current property market is delivering softer rates and expanded capacity across many segments. Howden’s April 2026 analysis confirms that Australian property buyers are still in a favourable position, notwithstanding recent flood and storm events.
That combination creates a specific advisory risk. Clients see cheaper pricing and conclude that risk has receded. The Aon data says otherwise. Cheaper cover secured now while capacity is available is the opportunity – but only if limits, deductibles and BI periods are adjusted to reflect real-world exposure, not just renewed at last year’s settings with a lower premium attached.
Shifting the renewal conversation
Using Aon’s numbers, brokers can move clients away from single-event thinking and toward accumulation risk. A series of moderate storms and floods across a financial year can produce losses equivalent to one major event, without generating the same public attention. Clients who understand that are more receptive to discussions about adequate BI periods, contingent cover and multi-site accumulation. Recent local events – Alfred being the obvious example – work as case studies when discussing accumulation across sites and states.
The soft market window is also the right moment to push BI indemnity periods toward realistic rebuild and recovery timelines. Supply-chain disruption and labour shortages have extended real-world recovery periods significantly, while many policies are still written on 12-month indemnity periods based on pre-COVID assumptions. Where warranted, broader contingent cover should be on the table too.
Aon flags climate risk entering capital allocation and underwriting decisions at a structural level – a direction that has implications for future insurability, not just current pricing. Brokers who position mitigation and resilience investments (flood barriers, roofing upgrades, asset relocation) as factors that influence underwriting terms and insurability are ahead of where the market is heading.
Using data to differentiate
Brokers who can translate reports like Aon’s into localised, client-specific insight have a clear advantage over direct channels and online aggregators. The combination of soft property rates, rising catastrophe losses and ASIC’s enforcement priorities on pricing and disclosure makes 2026 renewals a genuinely complex environment – and complex environments are where broker advice earns its keep.
Brokers who lean into that complexity, rather than simply passing on a lower premium, will be better placed to protect clients when the next Ex-Cyclone Alfred arrives and when the market inevitably hardens in response.
Better Broker Network’s placement support draws on 20+ years of underwriting expertise to help members navigate property and BI placement in exactly these conditions. See the full offer at betterbroker.net.au/the-better-broker-offer.