The Insurance Council of Australia and its peers in the UK, Canada and New Zealand have urged British Commonwealth leaders to tackle worsening extreme weather challenges facing the bloc’s communities.

They made the call in a letter to the four countries’ prime ministers as the grouping prepared for its Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which starts today in Samoa.

The letter says more frequent and intense disasters, coupled with development of areas at high risk of extreme weather and growing asset values, are widening the gap between those who can afford insurance in high-threat areas and those who cannot.

Insurers want to work with governments on solutions to close the protection gap, the letter says.

Before the Commonwealth leaders’ meeting, ICA, the Insurance Council of New Zealand, the Association of British Insurers and the Insurance Bureau of Canada held a discussion on Friday in Sydney on protection gap issues.

Insurers, along with Australian government representatives and regulators, took part in the Global Insurance Protection Gap Forum.

“Governments and insurers have a critical opportunity to collaborate across global markets to build a shared view of current and future hazard risk,” the letter says. “As Commonwealth nations, we are facing this shared challenge together, with similar regulatory, political and financial tools at our disposal to implement solutions.”

The letter urges the prime ministers to “raise the issue of worsening extreme weather and its impact on national economic and community resilience as part of the Commonwealth Business Forum” on October 23-24.

The four peak bodies represent insurers writing about $US200 billion ($297 billion) in gross annual premium.

The letter says the peak bodies “have a unique perspective on [the protection gap] issue and understand that both the causes and the solutions to this issue are common to our four jurisdictions and indeed nations across the Commonwealth.

“Many Commonwealth insurance markets are seeing significant increases in hazard risk and resulting premiums in regions particularly vulnerable to disasters, and this challenge has compounded over the last decade.

“Flood risk is often concentrated in particular areas of the highest-risk homes, but we are concerned that the widespread nature of flood risk will only increase.”

The letter says targeted resilience solutions such as home buybacks, house-raising and retrofits can prove effective at reducing risk and should be designed to maximise return on investment by focusing on the areas of highest risk.

It also says applying excessive taxes and levies to insurance premiums can directly affect insurance coverage.