The Climate Crisis Comes for Insurers

Schwartzreport · 2 years ago · 193 views

Tik Root,  Grist Staff Writer  -  truthdig | Grist Stephan: This morning I got an email from a reader in Florida saying, "Stephan, you are so right-on about the insurance trend you have been warning us about, and that I just experienced. Friday, my Christmas gift from my 20-year home insurance company was that they would not extend coverage, and my policy would end in January." Here is further confirmation of what is happening. If you live on a coastline this trend may be headed your way. Clayton Aldern / Grist Five hurricanes made landfall in the United States this year, causing half a trillion dollars in damages. Flooding devastated mountain towns along the East Coast. Scores of wildfires burned almost 8 million acres nationwide. As such events grow more common, and more devastating, homeowners are seeing their insurance premiums spike — or insurers ditch them all together.  An analysis released Wednesday by the Senate Committee on the Budget found that the rate at which insurance contracts are being dropped rose significantly in recent years, particularly in states most exposed to climate risks. In all, 1.9 million policies were not renewed. “Climate change is no longer just an environmental problem,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who chairs the budget committee, said at a hearing Wednesday. “It is an economic threat, and it is an affordability issue that we should not ignore.” For those with insurance, premiums rose 44 percent between 2011 and 2021, and an additional 11 percent last year, according to a report the congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC) also released this week. A Democratic [...]