Climate change is a major factor leading to the crisis in the world of property insurance. While rising real-estate values and rebuilding costs contribute too, the effects of more frequent and intense extreme weather events are undeniable. From wildfires, larger hail, bigger winds, stronger hurricanes, torrential rains, and blizzards, to inland and coastal flooding, all these events are on global warming steroids. And so insurance rates keep rising, coverage becomes harder to acquire, compensations get smaller and more vexing, mortgages get harder to find and pay for, and both individuals and companies suffer as the new conditions force adjustments and lead to new and larger losses.Most of these articles cover the current situation, especially in the U.S., though the case is similar in other countries where individual property insurance is common. The last set covers one possible (and of course partial) solution.
The home insurance crisis – losing (affordable) coverage and doing without:
“Nobody’s insurance rates are safe from climate change,” Dana Nuccitelli, Yale Climate Connections.
“Insurers are deserting homeowners as climate shocks worsen,” Christopher Flavelle, New York Times. Excellent overview with an example from Silver City, New Mexico. “Without insurance, it’s impossible to get a mortgage; without a mortgage, most Americans can’t buy a home.” Related: “Climate change drives up insurance costs—and missed mortgage payments,” Mario Alejandro Ariza, Floodlight.
“As insurers around the U.S. bleed cash from climate shocks, homeowners lose,” Christopher Flavelle, New York Times. Another excellent overview focused on the center of the country.
The New York Times has really been following the insurance story. Here is a slightly tangential but interesting piece from the business section of the paper: “Home insurance is clobbering consumers. Yet it’s barely counted in inflation,” Jeanna Smialek.
“How climate risks are driving up insurance premiums around the U.S.—visualized,” Oliver Milman, The Guardian. The links between climate-disaster risk and rising premiums.
Farmers and their crops are having trouble, too, as a result of climate change:
“U.S. farmers want to adapt to climate change, but crop insurance won’t let them,” Miranda Jeyaretnam, Bloomberg News, reprinted in Phys.org. Focus on “farmers who are uninsured or underinsured because the industry doesn’t support switching from traditional to regenerative farming, an approach that has the potential to sequester enough carbon to halve agricultural emissions by 2030.”
“They grow your berries and peaches, but often lack one item: insurance,” Patrick Cooley, New York Times. Small farmers and specialty crops.
Even automobile insurance is feeling the climate bite:
“Climate-fueled extreme weather is hiking up car insurance rates,” Kiley Price, Inside Climate News.
The Hurricane Helene situation, with few victims covered by flood