Insurance industry leaders around the world are facing a “global storm” of economic, political and climate issues, according to Suncorp Group CEO Patrick Snowball.

He says the insurance sectors in the UK and Australia face common issues “as the ability of government and industry leaders to manage economic, political and climate issues is in doubt”.

Writing in UK industry publication the Post Online, Mr Snowball says Suncorp has managed major organisational change at the same time as “an unprecedented level of insurance events, as well as economic and political uncertainty under scrutiny from government, media and the wider market”.

“In Australia there are two inquiries into flood disasters and related disasters and related general insurance matters, and during the past three years there have been more than six inquiries into banking and financial services – all this in a country considered to have one of the world’s best financial services regulatory systems.”

The common issues that insurers around the world face are insurance affordability, accessibility and capacity, Mr Snowball says. “These are critical for the sustainability of our businesses – and they are also politically and socially contentious.”

Mr Snowball, who will be keynote speaker at Post’s annual insurance summit on September 28-29, says that despite the challenges he is “sanguine” about the future of Suncorp and the wider industry. But he warns that companies must address policy and process complexity.

“Our challenge is to convince government, customers and the community that we are not the problem, but a key part of the solution.”