Herrera, 35, works at a nearby bank as a financial employee. He and his partner currently reside in their 900-square-foot property in the Mid-City district of New Orleans, which he purchased in 2020 for $270,000.
He paid $1,600 a year for house insurance in 2022. However, his insurance terminated his policy in July of last year, citing its departure from Louisiana.
In 2021, Alfredo Herrera (right) and his companion visited New Orleans, Louisiana.
It wasn’t too difficult to get or maintain homeowner’s insurance in the past.
However, insurers—especially those in areas most affected by floods and fires—are boosting their rates or leaving the market entirely as climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather, which has an influence on the cost and accessibility of home and fire insurance.
Herrera searched around for a fresh strategy but was unsuccessful. It was out of the question for Louisiana citizens, the state’s insurer of last resort for property owners. Every year, it would have cost more than $7,000.
After some time, Herrera discovered an insurance policy with a tiny state-based firm that cost him $4,930 a year, which was a 208% increase over what he had been paying in 2022.
“It’s quite challenging,” he said. When he acquired his house, he had no idea that the last-resort insurer would be so costly and that his options for private insurance would be so restricted.
“We oppose the wall,” Herrera declared. “There’s not any rivalry.”
Everyone making a larger payment
The narrative of Herrera’s insurance is typical in Louisiana and other states where the likelihood of major weather events is rising.
The United States saw a record 28 weather-related and climate-related disasters last year, with damages exceeding $1 billion, as reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In contrast, the average annual frequency of these occurrences between 1980 and 2023 was 8.5.
According to a poll conducted by Louisiana State University last year, 17% of homeowners in the state said their provider had canceled their insurance. According to the poll, 63% of policyholders stated that the cost of their insurance coverage had gone up from the previous year.
Mark Friedlander, a spokesman for the nonprofit industry group Insurance Information Institute, stated that there was an approximately 10%–12% increase in homeowners’ insurance premiums in the US last year.
According to recent statistics, insurance premiums in these American towns may increase as a result of climate disasters.
The primary causes include the increased expenses that insurers must bear, such as those resulting from increasingly powerful storms; higher replacement costs; and reinsurance, a form of insurance that insurers employ to reduce their risks. The consumer bears the cost of these. Therefore, a homeowner who does not reside in a high-risk location is probably paying a higher premium to insure those who do.
Neil Fernandes, a 42-year-old software engineer, and his spouse and child reside in Santa Clarita, California, and he paid $1,700 a year for Farmers Insurance coverage in 2023.
However, Farmers stated a year ago that it was increasing his premium to $3,200.Farmers gave the state’s growing fire risks and growing expenses as reasons when he was questioned. Fernandes claims that despite living a quarter of a mile from a fire station, the fire risks surrounding his house haven’t changed.
He began looking around for different insurance options, but his alternatives were scarce.
The lack of options frustrated him, so he paid $2,880 a year to switch to AAA house insurance.
To pay for the raise, he and his family had to alter their way of life. To save money on auto insurance, he is driving less. They are delaying home renovation projects, eating out less, and vacationing less.
Fernandes claims that AAA’s estimate of the value of his home insurance is excessive and is contesting it.
Furthermore, he is concerned about potential price shocks related to home insurance, which he did not account for when he purchased his house.
“I always worry about things like paying taxes for good schools and community upkeep as a home owner,” he remarked. “I now have insurance coverage to worry about.”
Insurance companies withdraw
Insurance companies no longer offer policies in some areas that are most vulnerable to climate change.
Citing wildfire concerns, State Farm, the biggest home insurance company in California, declared in May that it would no longer be issuing coverage in that state. Farmers Insurance completely withdrew from the Florida market after deciding it was too dangerous to keep insuring properties there.
As businesses leave, more states are attempting to establish government-backed insurance providers.
The number of policies issued by Citizens Property Insurance in Florida has increased by over 50% in the last year alone to 1.3 million, or 16% of the market, and far more than any other national insurer writes in the state.
The US Senate Budget Committee is going to look into whether Florida’s property and house insurance company, which is backed by the state, has enough cash on hand to weather future catastrophes.
Absence of insurance
But expense increases aren’t just being caused by climate change. Insurance companies frequently highlight the growing expense of replacing homes due to the sharp increase in labor and building material prices.
According to the insurance sector, between 2019 and 2022, rebuilding and replacement prices increased by 55%. But since then, prices have decreased. Furthermore, reinsurance has increased by 30% to 40% following years of industry losses, per Matthew Carletti, a JMP Securities insurance sector expert.
Insurance prices have increased as a result of rising home construction expenses.
Due to the fact that their mortgage servicer will need an escrow account for insurance, homeowners with mortgages are unable to live without homeowners insurance.
However, because homeowners insurance is so expensive and difficult to obtain, some people who have paid off their mortgage or purchased their property with cash may decide to take their chances without it.
Approximately 6 million homeowners opted not to purchase homeowners insurance, per a Consumer Federation of America survey. This equates to roughly 7.4% of all homeowners in the US and an unprotected worth of $1.6 trillion.
The CFA issued a warning, stating that unless significant investments are made in adapting to climate change and strengthening regulatory measures for the insurance sector, the issue of uninsured dwellings is expected to worsen in the years to come.
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