Homeowner's Insurance Meets Climate Change
An Anonymous Coward has submitted the following story:
The New York Times is running a story on the difficulties of obtaining homeowner's insurance in areas of the USA affected by firestorms/storms/floods, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/13/climate/insurance-homes-climate-change-weather.html or non-paywalled at https://archive.is/BB8wQ
The insurance turmoil caused by climate change - which had been concentrated in Florida, California and Louisiana - is fast becoming a contagion, spreading to states like Iowa, Arkansas, Ohio, Utah and Washington. Even in the Northeast, where homeowners insurance was still generally profitable last year, the trends are worsening.
In 2023, insurers lost money on homeowners coverage in 18 states, more than a third of the country, according to a New York Times analysis of newly available financial data. That's up from 12 states five years ago, and eight states in 2013. The result is that insurance companies are raising premiums by as much as 50 percent or more, cutting back on coverage or leaving entire states altogether. Nationally, over the last decade, insurers paid out more in claims than they received in premiums, according to the ratings firm Moody's, and those losses are increasing.
[...] The turmoil in insurance markets is a flashing red light for an American economy that is built on real property. Without insurance, banks won't issue a mortgage; without a mortgage, most people can't buy a home. With fewer buyers, real estate values are likely to decline, along with property tax revenues, leaving communities with less money for schools, police and other basic services.
The link includes a number of plots to support the article.
Have you changed to higher deductible homeowner's insurance to effectively "co-insure" your house, while saving on the premium? If you are unable to buy insurance at all, are you prepared to self-insure, accepting all the financial risk--or is this even possible if your bank still holds a significant mortgage?
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