QBE has entered into three-year partnerships with humanitarian agencies Red Cross and Save the Children to more efficiently provide disaster relief funds after catastrophes.

The global partnerships with the providers replace more ad-hoc arrangements that typically respond more slowly in providing assistance to stricken communities.

“We know that when disaster strikes, it’s vital that resources can be deployed quickly to support communities, both in the immediate response and to assist in the long-term recovery,” Group CEO Pat Regan said.

“Through these new three-year partnerships we’re able to support disaster recovery initiatives and enable the rapid deployment of vital resources.”

The arrangement also allows any funds not used each year for disaster recovery to go towards programs run by the two agencies supporting climate resilience projects.

“We know that increasingly unpredictable and potentially more severe weather-related events have the potential to cause significant economic and social consequences,” Mr Regan said.

“By redirecting a portion of the funds to climate resilience projects we can support the efforts of communities to protect themselves from physical risks and potentially mitigate future disaster.”

QBE has not specified the total funds involved in the partnerships, but a spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au it is “close to a couple of million dollars”.

Save the Children Australia CEO Paul Ronalds says humanitarian crises are being exacerbated by climate change.

“Our partnership with QBE goes to the core of this challenge and will help communities to become more disaster-resilient so we can save more lives and rebuild when disaster strikes,” he said.