From hurricanes to hailstorms, the rising frequency and severity of natural disasters can make it harder to get or afford home insurance.
What's happening?
As extreme weather ramps up across the U.S., families in states such as Texas are feeling the impacts in their wallets.
The Washington Post reported that home insurance premiums in the Lone Star State are surging due to compounding weather disasters and inflation.
Average homeowner premiums rose 21% in 2023, hitting $2,803, according to the Texas Department of Insurance.
"If we were cartoon characters, the eyeballs would have been popping out of our heads," said Bob Dempsey, a resident whose home has never flooded, per the Post.
Many insurers are pulling out of high-risk markets altogether. This means a growing number of homeowners are forced to cut coverage, drop policies entirely, or consider moving elsewhere.
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Why is home insurance important?
As humans continue to burn dirty energy sources such as oil, gas, and coal, planet-overheating pollution traps heat in our atmosphere, warming oceans, and intensifying storms.
This means costlier, more frequent disasters that damage homes, disrupt lives, and make insurers nervous. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Texas saw an average of 2.5 billion-dollar weather disasters annually in the early 2000s. Today, that number has skyrocketed to 15 per year.
The consequences ripple beyond insurance bills. Families are priced out of housing markets, governments face increasing repair costs for schools and municipal buildings, and state-backed insurance programs such as the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association are being depleted.
A spokesperson admitted that the TWIA's catastrophe reserve fund has "essentially zero" left as another hurricane season approaches, per the Post.
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Definitely 🥰 What's being done about home insurance?
Texas lawmakers are exploring fixes, including one bill that would cap unchecked premium increases and another that would offer grants to help residents fortify their homes.
Consumer advocacy groups such as the Center for Economic Justice also continue to push for fairer insurance regulations.
More broadly, people need to cut the pollution that makes storms more dangerous in the first place. That starts with shifting to clean energy, electrifying homes, protecting natural flood barriers such as wetlands, and designing buildings to withstand extreme conditions.
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