By David Gray, Senior Consultant Actuary at Broadstone
Summary
Emerging health risks, from tick-borne disease to extreme weather, are becoming increasingly relevant for life assurance and income protection insurers. Climate change is reshaping morbidity patterns, strengthening the case for prevention, early intervention and more integrated climate risk assessment across protection products and actuarial frameworks.
Climate change is making health risk more relevant for protection insurers
Recent reports of hantavirus cases serve as a reminder that health risks can emerge from everyday environments, reinforcing the importance of preventive health awareness for policyholders covered by life assurance and income protection.
Alongside outbreak-specific advice, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes practical tools and guidance to help individuals understand and reduce wider infectious disease risks, supporting both health outcomes and resilience to absence from work.
Longer-term factors such as climate change are increasingly influencing these risks, as changing weather patterns affect how diseases emerge, persist and spread.
For protection insurers, this creates a growing need to consider how environmental and public-health trends may influence future morbidity experience, claims patterns and customer resilience over time.
Contact Broadstone’s Insurance Advisory & Remediation team.
Tick-borne disease is becoming a more significant morbidity risk
Tick-borne Lyme disease remains a particular concern in the UK, especially during spring and summer when ticks are most active in woodland, long grass and heathland.
Warmer temperatures and milder winters linked to climate change are extending tick activity seasons and expanding suitable habitats, increasing exposure risk across wider parts of the country. If not identified and treated early, Lyme disease can lead to prolonged fatigue, musculoskeletal and neurological symptoms that may disrupt sustained employment and contribute to longer-tail income protection claims.
UKHSA guidance highlights simple but effective measures, including tick checks, prompt and correct tick removal, and awareness of early symptoms. These steps can materially reduce longer-term impacts for individuals and employers alike.
Seasonal messaging on tick awareness can therefore play a meaningful role in supporting policyholders’ wellbeing and financial resilience.
Read more: Climate Risk in Focus: Broadstone’s Assessment and PRA’s Evolving Expectations
Climate-driven health risks are reshaping morbidity assumptions
More broadly, climate change is beginning to reshape morbidity risk patterns in ways that matter for life and health insurers.
Increased frequency of heatwaves, flooding and extreme weather events can exacerbate chronic conditions, raise the incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and contribute to mental health strain following disruption and displacement.
Shifts in infectious disease risk, whether vector-borne, water-borne or respiratory, add further uncertainty to morbidity experience over time.
While many of these impacts are likely to emerge gradually rather than suddenly, they challenge assumptions built on historical data and place greater emphasis on prevention, early intervention and adaptability within protection products.
Prevention and resilience are becoming more important within protection strategy
For insurers, this strengthens the case for integrating climate considerations into morbidity risk assessment, experience analyses and longer-term product strategy.
It also highlights the value of proactive engagement with policyholders on practical health behaviours, localised risk awareness and resilience. This should not be viewed as a substitute for insurance cover, but as a complementary means of improving outcomes for individuals, employers and schemes alike.
Read more: Double Materiality: What Is It and What Does It Mean for Pensions in a Changing Climate?
Public-health engagement can support better customer outcomes
Broadstone supports protection providers through its industry knowledge and actuarial insight, informed by relevant and credible public health evidence where appropriate.
Public bodies such as the UK Health Security Agency provide communications and toolkits that help organisations better understand the emerging impacts from key health security themes, including vector‑borne disease, weather related health risks, and infection prevention.
Initiatives such as World Hand Hygiene Day 2026 highlight how small, consistent behaviours can have a meaningful cumulative impact, supporting better outcomes for individuals, employers and the long‑term sustainability of protection insurance.
Climate-driven health risks are unlikely to remain peripheral to insurers
Looking ahead, climate-driven health risks are unlikely to remain peripheral to the insurance industry. Understanding how they influence morbidity trends, claim drivers and policyholder behaviour will become increasingly important for Boards, actuaries and risk teams.
Broadstone supports insurers in navigating this evolving landscape, from climate risk assessment and scenario analysis through to governance, regulatory alignment and practical integration into actuarial and risk frameworks.
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As climate change continues to shape health outcomes, a considered and proportionate approach to climate risk management can help insurers protect both their members and their balance sheets over the long term.
