Changing weather patterns and how they should be dealt with are uppermost on the minds of insurance industry professionals, according to a survey by the Actuaries Institute.

The survey, which includes the views of 98 insurance professionals attending today’s Actuaries Institute General Insurance Seminar in Sydney, finds 26% think changing weather patterns like those which caused Hurricane Sandy in the US and Cyclone Yasi in Queensland are the biggest risk facing the Australian insurance industry.

Improving the pricing of weather-related risks like floods, storms and drought is seen by 37% of the respondents as the most important action the industry can take to prepare for climate change, while 27% believe creating accurate flood maps is most important.

“Hurricane Sandy and Cyclone Yasi have reminded us of the serious impact changing weather patterns can have on the community and of the reinsurance costs of natural disaster events,” Actuaries Institute CEO Melinda Howes says.

“While insurance companies can take steps to manage changing weather, the institute maintains the Government can best support the aim of getting Australia natural disaster-ready by creating a national pool of funds to provide financial incentives for flood-mapping and mitigation actions, as well as offset the high insurance costs of people living in disaster-prone areas.”

That temporary pool would need to exist for 15 years while the Government put mitigation strategies in place, she says.

The second most pressing concern, selected by 18% of the respondents, is increasing regulatory pressures, including tighter capital standards.

Some 63% believe social media will have a significant transformative effect on the industry in the next five years, while 92% believe it will affect brand management. And 53% say it will influence the distribution of insurance products, with 52% also seeing it having an impact on customer education.

Technology presents a big opportunity, says 49% of respondents who want the industry to better leverage “big data” – large amounts of data requiring specialised software – to drive marketing, product development and pricing.

Product distribution is facing an overhaul, with 70% predicting at least half of personal insurance products will be sold online by 2017, while for commercial insurance the expectation is 20%.