Hurricane Tabletop Exercise for Insurance Companies

This exercise is part of our catalog of tabletop exercises for insurance companies.

Scenario Overview

Participants are the management team of a fictional insurance company as a hurricane approaches the area. Preparations are underway to secure facilities, protect records and systems, and get employees home safely before conditions deteriorate. At first, the organization believes it is taking the right precautions.

Unfortunately, the storm is much larger and more damaging than expected. As the hurricane passes through, the facility is forced to close, employees cannot get to work, and customers need help at the exact moment claims and eligibility functions are severely disrupted. Leadership must begin addressing the operational, customer service, and reputational consequences while the wider community is still dealing with the storm’s impact.

This exercise challenges insurance leaders to evaluate how they would respond before, during, and after a severe weather event that disrupts operations, affects employees, and creates an urgent surge in customer demand.

Why This Scenario Matters for Insurance Companies

Insurance companies are expected to remain responsive during major weather events, even when their own facilities, staff availability, and systems are affected. A hurricane can create immediate safety concerns, extended closures, damaged infrastructure, and a sharp increase in policyholder needs at the same time.

This exercise helps leadership teams evaluate how they would prepare for a major storm, manage operational disruption after landfall, and continue serving customers while claims pressure and service expectations rise.

Exercise Objectives

• Evaluate leadership decision-making before, during, and after a major hurricane.
• Discuss facility shutdown, employee safety, and storm preparation procedures.
• Review communications with employees, policyholders, vendors, and other stakeholders.
• Assess public relations and customer response following closures and service disruption.
• Examine business resumption challenges created by access issues, infrastructure impacts, and customer demand surges.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen storm preparedness and recovery planning.

Typical Participants

• Executive leadership
• Operations and claims leadership
• Facilities leadership
• Customer service leadership
• Communications or public affairs staff
• Human resources
• Business continuity or crisis management team members

Exercise Format

Conduct-It-Yourself Tabletop Exercises are structured, discussion-based simulations designed to help organizations test their response to disruptive events without the time and cost of a fully facilitated exercise. Participants are placed in the middle of a realistic scenario as it unfolds and must work through decisions, priorities, and consequences as a leadership team.

Each downloadable exercise package includes everything needed to conduct the session internally, including facilitator instructions, exercise overview materials, participant forms, a detailed scenario script, and a ready-to-run PowerPoint presentation that guides the scenario and discussion. The materials are designed so organizations can conduct the exercise as delivered or customize the storyline and supporting materials to reflect their own operations, business lines, and testing objectives.

Most exercises are designed to be conducted in approximately 2 to 4 hours. A typical agenda includes an exercise overview and scenario briefing, the facilitated disaster simulation discussion, group review and preparation for debriefing, and a structured post-exercise discussion to capture lessons learned and improvement opportunities.

Exercise Focus

• Emergency Response
• Crisis Communications
• Public Relations
• Business Resumption

Related Tabletop Exercise Scenarios

Organizations exploring this scenario may also find these exercises useful:

• Cyber Crime Tabletop Exercise for Insurance Companies
• Pandemic Tabletop Exercise for Insurance Companies
• Train Wreck Tabletop Exercise for Insurance Companies
• Gas Main Explosion Tabletop Exercise for Insurance Companies
• Shelter-in-Place Tabletop Exercise for Insurance Companies
• Workplace Hostage Tabletop Exercise for Insurance Companies
• Tornado Tabletop Exercise for Insurance Companies

Purchase & Download

This exercise is delivered as a downloadable package that includes facilitator instructions, scenario materials, and structured discussion prompts to guide the exercise.