The 2026 CAT Season Forecast
It’s still early, but it looks like 2026 could bring severe wildfires and storm activity.
- Wildfire Season: Research published in Science Advances shows that wildfire weather – the dry, windy and warm conditions that are perfect for blazes – has become more common. AccuWeather warns that the 2026 wildfire season could start earlier than usually because a significant portion of the U.S. is experiencing drought conditions.
- Hurricane Season: Climate-fueled weather patterns have also contributed to more destructive hurricanes. According to the Center for American Progress, highly damaging hurricanes occur three times more frequently than they did one hundred years ago, and the proportion of major hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean has doubled since 1980. AccuWeather says an El Niño weather pattern could form this summer, contributing to a less intense hurricane season in the Atlantic, but the same weather pattern could make things worse in the eastern Pacific.
- Severe Storms: Thunderstorms, hailstorms and tornados can also lead to mass losses, and these risks are rising. According to AccuWeather, Tornado Alley has shifted, meaning that regions that are not used to elevated tornado risks are now exposed to a higher chance of storms. At the same time, Aon reports that insured losses from severe convective storms are on the rise. This is not simply because of climate change; other factors, such as population distribution in high hazard states, are also at play.
How Insurance AI Can Help
In the past, insurers faced resource challenges. When claims volume surged, insurers simply had no way to give each and every policyholder immediate attention. Now, that’s no longer the case. With Insurance AI solutions that are both accessible and affordable, insurers can easily scale and provide instant service and claim updates throughout CAT events.
When policyholders are dealing with an urgent claim, they don’t want to jump through hoops to report the loss and receive support. Here are just a few ways you can enhance their claim journey with insurance AI:
- FNOL Reporting Options: Claimants want to use the claim reporting method that’s most convenient for them at that moment, and they want the process to be as fast and painless as possible, whether they’re reporting online, by phone or via SMS. If the Internet is knocked out due to the CAT event and they want to call in their FNOL, they should be able to do so with zero hold time.
- Language Options: Being able to report the claim in their native language is also a major plus. When people are stressed, they often revert to their native languages, a phenomenon that’s been studied and written about in Emotion. It can also be difficult to describe a claim with precision or navigate insurance terms when you’re not communicating in your primary language.
- Claim Confirmation: Ideally, the claimant should receive confirmation that you’ve received the FNOL along with their claim number and instructions for checking their claim status.
- Claim Team Alerts: Your FNOL process can triage claims and send claims summaries and flags to your team, alerting them of details that need immediate attention. Your FNOL AI can also be integrated with your fraud detection platform.
- Automated Loss Mitigation: If a loss situation is getting worse by the minute, fast mitigation can make all the difference. AI can be integrated with other systems and set up to auto-deploy service providers to initiate water damage mitigation or roof tarping.
- Instant Claim Status: With an AI-driven process in place, your claimants will be able to check their claim status by interacting with an AI agent anytime 24/7. Best of all, this instant access alleviates the burden on your human team.
If insurers can deliver a positive FNOL experience, they can get claims off to a good start and avoid a lot of the frustration, bad press and customer churn that tends to follow a widespread disaster.
You Can Be CAT-Season Ready Sooner Than You Think
With the Liberate AI platform, you don’t have to worry about runaway project timelines and costs. We have a proven track record of delivering AI implementations for insurers on time and on budget. In many cases, the phase one deliverable is implemented within 8 weeks, providing unprecedented speed to market.
The bottom line: There’s still time for you to get your claims operation CAT-ready this year. Imagine answering all calls with zero wait time, providing bilingual support, and enabling digital and Voice AI FNOL intake so claimants never have to wait on hold.
If you need a practical way to meet customer needs while controlling costs, the Liberate AI platform is the answer. These solutions are not just popular with insurers – policyholders love them too.
Within just a few months of adopting Digital FNOL, Allied Trust reported that 22% of their claimants were selecting the new process. “Our claims representatives are hearing positive feedback from the policyholders who have used it,” says Sarah Eichler, Claims Operations Manager at Allied Trust. “They describe the digital FNOL as quick and easy to use with no wait. It provides instant gratification. Download the Allied Trust case study to learn more.
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