As the far-reaching home insurance crisis worsens, a new report identified rates that are far higher than average in one part of Ontario, Canada — with a familiar primary cause for skyrocketing costs.

What's happening?

According to a new report from CKLW, homeowners in Kingsville now pay far more for home insurance than others in the province, with extreme weather driven by rising temperatures largely to blame.

Citing new data from Rates.ca, the outlet reported that Kingsville homeowners on average pay 2,007 Canadian dollars ($1,472) a year, 28% more than the average in Ontario. In some parts of Canada, homeowners have faced a 50% rate hike.

Windsor-Essex sits directly across from Detroit at the southernmost point of Canada, and Essex County warns that coastal flooding remains "a real and growing threat" in the area. 

Like the adjacent city of Detroit, Windsor-Essex residents are surrounded by water, leaving dwellings and people exposed when "levels rise in the Great Lakes," and amid bouts of extreme weather.

Daniel Ivans, an insurance expert for Rates.ca, said that a hike in premiums doesn't necessarily translate to better coverage — even policies with maximum "water coverage" have payout caps, leaving homeowners underinsured as extreme weather becomes more common, more destructive, and more deadly.

Ivans also said that while areas like Windsor-Essex have seen higher home insurance premiums across the board, the problem is a national one. "Naturally, we are seeing a lot of basement flooding and sewer backup claims," he said of Essex County, per CKLW. 

"Again, we're seeing this across the country, but particularly in areas that are vulnerable, close to large bodies of water, and along flat plains," Ivans explained.

Why are skyrocketing home insurance premiums concerning?

As Ivans emphasized, while certain areas were hit with higher premiums first, the home insurance crisis is not the sole domain of low-lying coastal communities. 

Many homeowners in Los Angeles, devastated by unprecedented wildfires in January, were abruptly dropped by their insurers before the disaster. Those whose policies hadn't been canceled faced lengthy delays as they tried to rebuild.

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In parts of California and Florida, insurance companies are simply withdrawing from large regions, refusing to provide coverage for areas deemed high-risk. In states like Colorado, up to 10% of homeowners have been priced out of home insurance altogether.

Large insurance companies are acting to mitigate the dangers of human-influenced changes to the climate. But insurance structurally averages out the cost of risks, and even those in less vulnerable areas will eventually be facing higher premiums.

Human activities, such as burning dirty fuel for energy, have greatly contributed to the climate crisis. As temperatures rise worldwide, extreme weather events have become more frequent, more intense, and more dangerous to our communities and the environment. 

What's being done to shield homeowners?

In December, days before the wildfires started, California regulators took steps to force insurers to cover high-risk areas.

Earlier this year, North Carolina lawmakers took similar steps to slow the pace of home insurance rate hikes in the state.
Curbing rising global temperatures benefits us all, and there's action we can take in our daily lives to make a difference. Weatherizing our homes, switching to electric vehicles, and responsible recycling can help us see a cleaner and safer future.

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