
NatCat Topic Day: From Risk to Resilience
Natural Hazards, Prevention, and the Limits of Insurability in Building Insurance
Climate change is increasing the pressure to act in the building insurance sector. Extreme weather events such as heavy rain, flooding, storms, and hail are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity; claims patterns are becoming more volatile, and risk assessments more complex. For insurers, this is no longer just a matter of claims settlement, but rather a question of how Residential and Commercial Building Insurance remains viable under changing risk conditions.
How can natural hazards be better measured, priced, and managed? What role do prevention, data quality, reinsurance, and portfolio management play? And where will the limits of insurability lie in the future?
At the NatCat Topic Day, we’ll take a practical look at natural hazards, prevention, and the future of building insurance. The focus will be on the question: How can insurers deal with increasing natural hazards—and how can building insurance remain risk-appropriate, affordable, reinsurable, and marketable to customers?
Optional morning activity: Experience prevention firsthand
Participation is must be registered separately. The main program starts at 11:15 a.m. at the InsurLab Germany office and can also be attended independently of the external event.
Why this Topic Day is important now
NatCat is not just a matter of claims or climate change, but a strategic issue for the future of building insurance. Addressing natural hazards involves product design, pricing, prevention, data, reinsurance, portfolio and cumulative risk management, as well as communication with sales teams and customers. The Topic Day provides a professional framework for bringing these perspectives together: from concrete prevention measures to data and risk assessment, all the way to product logic, reinsurability, and the limits of insurability.
What you can expect
The focus is on professional exchange and tangible added value. The Topic Day is not an open pitch event, but a curated professional forum. The event follows a clear structure:
- Experiencing Prevention: Optional kickoff event for flood and heavy rain prevention in the local community.
- Understanding the problem: Overview of Natural Hazards, Climate, and Damage Trends.
- Making Risk Measurable: Classification of data, models, ZÜRS, geodata, heavy rainfall maps, and building data.
- Pricing and Managing Risk: Insights on risk-based pricing, affordability, deductibles, adverse selection, and incentives for prevention.
- Translate "Product and Prevention": Discussion on coverage strategies, prevention approaches, and communication with sales teams and customers.
- Classify the limits of insurability: Strategic analysis of reinsurance, portfolio and cumulative risk management, natural disaster coverage, and private-sector limits.
Target group
The Topic Day is aimed in particular at executives and specialists from insurance companies who work in the areas of residential or commercial property insurance, product development, pricing and actuarial science, underwriting, portfolio management, reinsurance, prevention, strategy and innovation, sales, or communications. In addition, the event is aimed at selected service providers, startups, and scale-ups with specific expertise in prevention, data, risk analysis, modeling, geodata, building data, portfolio and cumulative risk management, or customer and sales communication.
Hourly Schedule
- 08:45
- Meeting for an optional kickoff
- Meeting point at the LRH / the bridgehead of the Deutz Bridge
- 09:00 - 10:30
- Optional field trip: Flood and heavy rain prevention on site
- Ingo Schwerdorf (Department Head at Stadtentwässerungsbetriebe Köln, AöR)
- 10:30 - 11:15
- Transfer to the InsurLab Germany Office
- Arrival / Coffee
- 11:15 - 11:30
- Opening: Why NatCat Now?
- Dr. Philipp Johannes Nolte (Managing Director of InsurLab Germany)
- 11:30 - 12:00
- Overview: Natural Hazards, Climate, and Trends in Damage
- Thomas Lanfermann (Senior Expert at InsurLab Germany and former member of the Executive Board of Helvetia Insurance)
- 12:00 - 12:30
- Data: What do we know? What data is missing, and what data will remain reliable in the future?
- tba
- 12:30 - 13:00
- Risk Assessment and Pricing
- tba
- 13:00 - 13:45
- Lunch break
- 13:45 - 14:15
- Curated Solution Spots
- tba
- 14:15 - 14:35
- Reinsurance Outlook: What Can Still Be Reinsured?
- tba
- 14:35 - 15:15
- Discussion: Product Design and Prevention—From the Promise of Protection to Risk Reduction
- tba
- 15:15 - 15:30
- Coffee break
- 15:30 - 15:50
- Communication and Sales: How Do We Get the Message Across?
- Nico Streker (Managing Director of ASSPICK Versicherungsmakler GmbH)
- 15:50 - 16:20
- Limits of Insurability and Coverage for Natural Disasters
- Closing Discussion (Guests TBA)
- 16:20 - 16:30
- Wrap-up: 5 Theses on Building Insurance
- tba
- 16:30 - around 6:00 p.m.
- Networking / Cocktail Reception
The registration to this event is exclusively possible for InsurLab Germany members. It is an On-site event. If you are an employee of a member company and the above criteria apply to you, you can sign up here:
Of course, it can happen that one is prevented despite interest. Therefore a request: If you have registered for one of our events but are unable to attend, please cancel as early as possible by sending an e-mail to connect@insurlab-germany.com. In this way we can further optimize our planning, allow interested parties to participate and save costs for catering etc. We thank you for your understanding!
Film and sound recordings as well as photos will be taken at the event. By registering for the event, you agree to their use, including at a later date.

NatCat Topic Day: From Risk to Resilience
Natural Hazards, Prevention, and the Limits of Insurability in Building Insurance
Climate change is increasing the pressure to act in the building insurance sector. Extreme weather events such as heavy rain, flooding, storms, and hail are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity; claims patterns are becoming more volatile, and risk assessments more complex. For insurers, this is no longer just a matter of claims settlement, but rather a question of how Residential and Commercial Building Insurance remains viable under changing risk conditions.
How can natural hazards be better measured, priced, and managed? What role do prevention, data quality, reinsurance, and portfolio management play? And where will the limits of insurability lie in the future?
At the NatCat Topic Day, we’ll take a practical look at natural hazards, prevention, and the future of building insurance. The focus will be on the question: How can insurers deal with increasing natural hazards—and how can building insurance remain risk-appropriate, affordable, reinsurable, and marketable to customers?
Optional morning activity: Experience prevention firsthand
Participation is must be registered separately. The main program starts at 11:15 a.m. at the InsurLab Germany office and can also be attended independently of the external event.
Why this Topic Day is important now
NatCat is not just a matter of claims or climate change, but a strategic issue for the future of building insurance. Addressing natural hazards involves product design, pricing, prevention, data, reinsurance, portfolio and cumulative risk management, as well as communication with sales teams and customers. The Topic Day provides a professional framework for bringing these perspectives together: from concrete prevention measures to data and risk assessment, all the way to product logic, reinsurability, and the limits of insurability.
What you can expect
The focus is on professional exchange and tangible added value. The Topic Day is not an open pitch event, but a curated professional forum. The event follows a clear structure:
- Experiencing Prevention: Optional kickoff event for flood and heavy rain prevention in the local community.
- Understanding the problem: Overview of Natural Hazards, Climate, and Damage Trends.
- Making Risk Measurable: Classification of data, models, ZÜRS, geodata, heavy rainfall maps, and building data.
- Pricing and Managing Risk: Insights on risk-based pricing, affordability, deductibles, adverse selection, and incentives for prevention.
- Translate "Product and Prevention": Discussion on coverage strategies, prevention approaches, and communication with sales teams and customers.
- Classify the limits of insurability: Strategic analysis of reinsurance, portfolio and cumulative risk management, natural disaster coverage, and private-sector limits.
Target group
The Topic Day is aimed in particular at executives and specialists from insurance companies who work in the areas of residential or commercial property insurance, product development, pricing and actuarial science, underwriting, portfolio management, reinsurance, prevention, strategy and innovation, sales, or communications. In addition, the event is aimed at selected service providers, startups, and scale-ups with specific expertise in prevention, data, risk analysis, modeling, geodata, building data, portfolio and cumulative risk management, or customer and sales communication.
Hourly Schedule
- 08:45
- Meeting for an optional kickoff
- Meeting point at the LRH / the bridgehead of the Deutz Bridge
- 09:00 - 10:30
- Optional field trip: Flood and heavy rain prevention on site
- Ingo Schwerdorf (Department Head at Stadtentwässerungsbetriebe Köln, AöR)
- 10:30 - 11:15
- Transfer to the InsurLab Germany Office
- Arrival / Coffee
- 11:15 - 11:30
- Opening: Why NatCat Now?
- Dr. Philipp Johannes Nolte (Managing Director of InsurLab Germany)
- 11:30 - 12:00
- Overview: Natural Hazards, Climate, and Trends in Damage
- Thomas Lanfermann (Senior Expert at InsurLab Germany and former member of the Executive Board of Helvetia Insurance)
- 12:00 - 12:30
- Data: What do we know? What data is missing, and what data will remain reliable in the future?
- tba
- 12:30 - 13:00
- Risk Assessment and Pricing
- tba
- 13:00 - 13:45
- Lunch break
- 13:45 - 14:15
- Curated Solution Spots
- tba
- 14:15 - 14:35
- Reinsurance Outlook: What Can Still Be Reinsured?
- tba
- 14:35 - 15:15
- Discussion: Product Design and Prevention—From the Promise of Protection to Risk Reduction
- tba
- 15:15 - 15:30
- Coffee break
- 15:30 - 15:50
- Communication and Sales: How Do We Get the Message Across?
- Nico Streker (Managing Director of ASSPICK Versicherungsmakler GmbH)
- 15:50 - 16:20
- Limits of Insurability and Coverage for Natural Disasters
- Closing Discussion (Guests TBA)
- 16:20 - 16:30
- Wrap-up: 5 Theses on Building Insurance
- tba
- 16:30 - around 6:00 p.m.
- Networking / Cocktail Reception
The registration to this event is exclusively possible for InsurLab Germany members. It is an On-site event. If you are an employee of a member company and the above criteria apply to you, you can sign up here:
Of course, it can happen that one is prevented despite interest. Therefore a request: If you have registered for one of our events but are unable to attend, please cancel as early as possible by sending an e-mail to connect@insurlab-germany.com. In this way we can further optimize our planning, allow interested parties to participate and save costs for catering etc. We thank you for your understanding!
Film and sound recordings as well as photos will be taken at the event. By registering for the event, you agree to their use, including at a later date.
