First Street’s Post

US Home Insurance Still Priced Too Low for Climate Risk, Says Swiss Re Chair https://lnkd.in/e25zT9QT #GIA #GlobalInsurance #Climate #risk #SwissRe #HomeInsurance

"Just a decade ago, few insurance companies had a comprehensive strategy for addressing climate risk as a core business issue. Today, insurance companies have no choice but to factor climate change into their policy models" Our agents can give you cutting edge tools that evaluate climate risk. Why use anyone else helping you buy a home? #REthink39 #realestate #homebuyertips #climaterisk #InsuranceCosts https://lnkd.in/eQ_2rnAV

Will increasing insurance costs drive a change in mindset for those denying climate change? “Buyers of home insurance have been hit by rising costs and also changes in coverage that led providers to drop some customers… In California, for example, more than 50% of homeowners said they or the area they live in has seen insurance prices increase from a year earlier, according to a survey conducted by Redfin in the spring. In Florida the rate was even higher, at 70%, while 12% of respondents reported being dropped by their insurance company… One reason may be the growing threat posed by extreme weather and other climate-related risks.” - Bloomberg #insurance #naturaldisasters #climatechange #extremeweather #economics

How climate change risk is reshaping the homeowners insurance market https://buff.ly/3QfVb5A #climatechange #homeownersinsurance #floridainsurancecrisis

📉 Property #insurance is becoming scarce in high-risk areas, with some homeowners opting out due to skyrocketing premiums. Read the latest insights from Newsweek on how recent disasters are reshaping the market. #InsuranceCrisis #PropertyClaims #ClimateChange

Homeowners insurance premiums are on the rise across the country, as climate change continues to have an impact. This piece looks at rate trends as well as typical coverages that are - and are not! - included in a homeowners policy. https://lnkd.in/dZPMJvy4

The homeowners insurance market is a disaster in more and more parts of the country, thanks to the impact of climate change. Until the underlying environmental risk is taken seriously and addressed comprehensively, the weather and the availability and affordability crisis in insurance will only get worse.

In the mid-2000s, I was invited to a meeting in Switzerland convened by SwissRe, the UN Foundation, the NGO Ceres, and others. We had worked on the development of the UNDP MDG Carbon Facility, aimed at facilitating access by developing countries to the emerging carbon markets under the Kyoto Protocol. The meeting was on the potential severe impacts of climate change on financial sectors, particularly insurance. Over the years, other financial institutions joined in raising concerns about the financial risks posed by climate shocks. We are now seeing the impact. The New York Times - "The insurance turmoil caused by climate change — which had been concentrated in Florida, California and Louisiana — is fast becoming a contagion, spreading to states like Iowa, Arkansas, Ohio, Utah and Washington. Even in the Northeast, where homeowners insurance was still generally profitable last year, the trends are worsening. In 2023, insurers lost money on homeowners coverage in 18 states, more than a third of the country, according to a New York Times analysis of newly available financial data. That’s up from 12 states five years ago, and eight states in 2013. The result is that insurance companies are raising premiums by as much as 50 percent or more, cutting back on coverage or leaving entire states altogether. Nationally, over the last decade, insurers paid out more in claims than they received in premiums, according to the ratings firm Moody’s, and those losses are increasing." #climatechange #climatefinance

Great (and short!) article on the climate change and the insurance market. Working at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) with an eye out for environmental sustainability projects, I realized that insurance is unusually vulnerable to climate change among financial services, to an extent that even in Ontario (which has gotten off pretty lightly with climate change so far compared to other jurisdictions), it's a significant issue. Leading the work to have FSRA join the UNDP Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF) (along with my good friend Jennifer Chan) was the perfect excuse to dig into how insurers face climate change risks on both ends of their business, with increased claims from customers and increased investment risks with those customers' money. The article suggests that the insurance industry ignored climate change until they couldn't any more, but I am convinced that insurance is also the first big business sector that is being forced to systematically change its practices. And way sooner than anyone will like, every sector is going to need to make similarly hard choices.

😫 Insurance premiums are regulated state by state, so while in Oregon we tend to think about wildfires... but in the Northeast its Nor'easters, and on the gulf its wind and flooding. Some reasons why rates are spiking are included. Opinions? #marketconditions #consumers #insurance #Ashland #NaturalDisasters #Inflation