Home Alone

If you want to know the truth about the risk of climate change, ignore the politics and follow the money. With all due respect to my local weatherman, there’s probably no one better at assessing climate risk than insurance companies, so if you want the actual facts, ask an actuary. In an increasing number of areas, big home insurance companies are raising premiums for homeowners in the line of fire (or more specifically, wildfire) and flood. These days, an increasing number of homeowners are opting out of coverage for natural disasters or even skipping home insurance altogether. WaPo (Gift Article): Home insurance was once a ‘must.’ Now more homeowners are going without. “Experts say this trend is driven by the escalating threat of climate change — which has forced insurers to make larger and larger payouts — and skyrocketing housing prices. Both trends are pushing the cost of policies up. On average, home insurance policies rose 11.3 percent in 2023, according to S&P Global. Compounding the problem, some insurance providers are pulling out of disaster-prone areas as a result of rising payouts — leaving former policyholders with fewer and more expensive alternatives.”