Asia carries approximately $1 trillion in unprotected risk, largely driven by natural catastrophes and health. Organisations across the region are seeing rising physical exposure to climate- and weather-related events. Marsh’s Climate Adaptation Report 2025 found that the highest proportion of respondents impacted by extreme weather over the past three years are based in Asia (73%). Yet, only 12.3% of the region’s $73 billion in total losses from natural catastrophes were insured in 2025.
The protection shortfall extends to business interruption. A survey of SME leaders in Singapore reveals that 74% are concerned about income loss from business interruption (BI). Yet, only 23% have insurance coverage for this risk.
Businesses can become underinsured through regular business operations including general and commodities inflation, site expansion, equipment upgrades, supplier changes, new revenue streams, or shifting operating models. At the same time, natural catastrophe risks, replacement costs, and supply-chain disruptions can evolve quickly.
With insurance rates softening in Asia, middle-market companies have a window of opportunity to revalue assets, align BI limits, and secure improved capacity before renewals.
Here are three practical steps to close your protection gap.
Step 1: Ensure accurate declared values of your assets
Accurate declared values are a foundational and critical component of a comprehensive Property Damage and Business Interruption (PDBI) policy. Valuation can protect property ownership and investment by ensuring the correct values are attributed to each asset, minimising protection gap, securing competitive insurance coverage, enhancing insurance claims outcomes, and ultimately avoiding underinsurance or overinsurance. If your values are outdated or inaccurate, this can lead to poor outcomes on a claim or settlement in the event of a loss.
Marsh Asia review empowered a multinational client to avoid a substantial claim reduction
A multinational client initially declared their asset values internally without undertaking a formal valuation process. Following a valuation exercise conducted by Marsh, it was found that the client’s declared values were understated by approximately 35%. Within the same policy year, the client experienced a significant loss and subsequently filed a multi-million-dollar claim. Without the prior valuation, the claim would have been adjusted, resulting in a settlement considerably lower than the loss.
Step 2: Fix BI fundamentals to match real-world risk
BI cover protects only the exposures you declare. Therefore, it is crucial that declared BI values reflect actual revenue, costs and critical dependencies. Carry out regular BI reviews to align limits and recovery timelines with how your business operates. Otherwise, you risk being underinsured or overinsured, facing misaligned cover, and reduced claim payouts when a loss occurs.
Marsh Asia review uncovered 200% BI coverage gap for a Japanese manufacturer
A real-world example illustrates this. A Japanese manufacturer’s BI insurance structure failed to include all relevant entities. Following a BI review with Marsh, it was identified that the client’s previously declared BI values were understated by more than 200%. The review enabled the company to enhance its financial resilience with stronger recovery assurance and greater confidence in its risk management program.
Business leaders can use this checklist to determine if a BI review should be commissioned:
- Has the organisation ever completed a comprehensive business interruption (BI) valuation to establish coverage limits?
- Has it been longer than three years since a BI exposure review or study was undertaken?
- Has there been a material increase or decrease in the revenue or profitability of the goods and services provided?
- Has there been a change in the supply chain?
- Has the ability to mitigate potential losses changed since the last assessment, either for better or worse?
Step 3: Optimise insurance placement strategy
Improved valuations and accurate BI data will strengthen your presentation to insurers, but you also need an insurance placement strategy aligned with current market capacity and risk appetite. This is particularly important where natural catastrophe exposure varies as terms and available capacity can differ by territory, occupancy, and risk concentration.
Marsh Asia Placement expertise strengthened insurance renewal outcomes for a Thailand-based manufacturer amid flood and fire risk
A Thailand-based manufacturer with flood and fire exposures faced limited insurer appetite and increased premiums. Marsh’s Placement experts conducted workshops with the client to review market conditions and collaborated to develop a renewal strategy, highlighting the client’s investments in proactive risk management to improve its risk profile. Marsh also coordinated risk engineering surveys to support underwriting discussions and reinsurer engagement. This helped the client restructure its insurance program and achieve cost benefits.
Why Marsh
- Marsh supports more than 15,000 middle-market clients in the region and operates across 11 markets in Asia.
- Marsh Placement team has serviced over 30,000 clients in Asia with over $7.5 billion worth of premiums supported by a 6,000-strong team.
- Leveraging our global scale of $118 billion in premiums and long-standing insurer relationships, Marsh helps clients access capacity and secure competitive terms across facilities, preferred panels, wholesale markets, and alternative risk solutions.
- Marsh also designs programs that reflect plausible loss scenarios and reduce surprises at renewal, particularly where natural catastrophe exposure and insurer appetite vary by location and risk profile.