Hot topics close

States Dig Into Homeowners Insurance and Why It's Hard to Buy

States Dig Into Homeowners Insurance and Why Its Hard to Buy
State regulators asked more than 400 companies for data on their homeowners insurance businesses. The inquiry comes at a moment when severe weather is increasing risk.
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

Supported by

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

States Dig Into Homeowners Insurance and Why It’s Hard to Buy

State regulators asked more than 400 companies for data on their homeowners insurance businesses. The inquiry comes at a moment when severe weather is increasing risk.

  • Share full article
A green building with white posts supporting a balcony is surrounded by water and debris from a storm.
A damaged property in Cedar Key, Fla., after Hurricane Idalia surged through last year. Florida is among the states abandoned by some large insurers because of catastrophic weather events.Credit...Zack Wittman for The New York Times
Emily FlitterChristopher Flavelle

Emily Flitter and

March 8, 2024

State regulators around the country asked hundreds of insurance companies on Friday to provide the details of how they price and structure their homeowner policies, part of an attempt to dig into why many property owners are struggling to get and keep coverage.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the group representing the regulators, said that state agencies wrote to more than 400 companies asking them for detailed data on their homeowners’ insurance businesses. The companies’ responses are due by early June, and they must comply or risk fines.

The association’s president, Andrew N. Mais, who is Connecticut’s insurance commissioner, said in a statement on the group’s website that the request was made to “address the critical challenge of the affordability and availability of homeowners’ insurance and the financial health of insurance companies.”

Inflation and increasingly severe weather driven by climate change have recently upended many local markets for homeowners insurance. Some major insurers have pulled out of states including Florida and California. In those places, and in others hit hard by catastrophic events like windstorms and wildfires, some homeowners have slashed their coverage to deal with the rising costs of insurance.

“The most pressing need at this time is to help communities adapt to climate-related risks and make sure they are adequately insured against events that can’t be prevented,” said Mark Friedlander, a spokesman for the insurance industry trade group, the Insurance Information Institute.

Some of the data will be shared with the Treasury Department’s Federal Insurance Office, which is looking into climate change’s effects on the insurance industry. Mr. Friedlander said it could help the federal government create policies to protect property owners in high-risk areas of the country.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Similar news
News Archive
  • Chris Kirchner
    Chris Kirchner
    Derby name Chris Kirchner as their preferred bidder to take over the club
    6 Apr 2022
    6
  • Galyn Görg
    Galyn Görg
    Galyn Gorg: Fresh Prince of Bel Air actress dies aged 55
    16 Jul 2020
    2
  • Jarrell Miller
    Jarrell Miller
    Resurgent Daniel Dubois stops tired Jarrell 'Big Baby' Miller in 10th ...
    23 Dec 2023
    19
  • Dan Coats
    Dan Coats
    Trump replaces national intelligence director Coats
    29 Jul 2019
    5
  • Beverley Callard
    Beverley Callard
    Coronation Street star Beverley Callard's company goes bust with £215k debt – despite six-figure I'm A Cele...
    3 May 2023
    3