Weekly Roundup: INSURE Act Introduced; Homeowners Missing Housing Payments; More Rate Hikes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 18, 2025
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Weekly Roundup: INSURE Act Introduced; Homeowners Missing Housing Payments; More Rate Hikes
Each week, the Insurance Fairness Project highlights the latest developments in the national climate-driven property insurance crisis.
1/ INSURANCE ACTION IN CONGRESS: U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) have introduced the Incorporating National Support for Unprecedented Risks and Emergencies (INSURE) Act, aiming to stabilize the home insurance market. A House bill will be introduced by California U.S. Reps Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Salud Carbajal, and Doris Matsui.
The INSURE ACT would create a federal catastrophic reinsurance program, to help insurers manage their losses in disasters and protect homeowners. It would also require insurers to cover all kinds of natural disasters and to invest in risk mitigation.
Rep. Matsui: “The insurance industry is on an unsustainable path—climate-fueled disasters are causing ever larger losses and American families are left holding the bag.”
2/ MORE STATES SEE RATE HIKES: In state after state, homeowners are waking up to the crisis as they get their property insurance bills.
AJC: Georgia, national home insurance rates on the rise. Here’s why.
Homeowners insurance rates for Georgians grew by nearly 12% in the past year, a recent report shows [...]Two key drivers that have contributed to this nationwide increase have been inflation and an increase in “climate-related disasters”[...]
Chicago Sun Times: Illinois leaders blast State Farm as it hikes home insurance rates
State Farm is raising home insurance rates 27% due to inflation and severe weather, saying it’s been spending more than it’s taking in.
3/ INSURANCE DISRUPTS THE HOUSING MARKET: A new study finds people are now paying so much for their home insurance that they’re missing mortgage payments, and climate change is making it all worse.
Morningstar: Home insurance costs so much now that people can't pay their mortgages. Another looming threat could make things even worse.
Their rising home-insurance costs are forcing them to make trade-offs, and some are falling behind on their mortgage payments as a result, real-estate experts told MarketWatch. Data show a growing share of FHA-backed mortgages are becoming delinquent, which could lead to foreclosures down the road.
4/ INSURERS’ FOSSIL FUEL INVESTMENTS ARE FUELING THE CRISIS: Property insurers doubled their profits last year, and much of that was from investments in fossil fuels.
KTVU: Record profits for property insurers
"When the insurance industry says it's losing money, it neglects to mention all the money it brings in every year through its investments and that is a huge portion of its profits," said Kenny Stancil, chief researcher for TheRevolvingDoorProject.org.
Center for International Environmental Law: More Than 100 People Dead In Texas: The Latest In a Line of Climate Disasters and Denial
And yet, the insurance industry — an industry that invests billions in fossil fuel companies and underwrites fossil fuel projects — continues to fuel the climate crisis while shielding itself from its financial impacts.
Revolving Door Project: Don't Let Home Insurers Fool You. They're More Profitable Than Ever
5/ CLIMATE IS CHANGING OUR WEATHER PATTERNS: The unprecedented force of the July 4 floods devastated Texas’s Kerr and Kendall Counties, costing at least 134 lives with almost 100 still missing. It also tragically underlined that our flood insurance system isn’t keeping up with changing weather patterns.
Houston Chronicle: Exclusive: Most Kerr County homes hit on July 4 had no flood insurance
“Inland flooding will only become more of a problem because we're starting to see across the country an increase in these extreme rain events, these really big, heavy rain storms, and that's directly related to climate change,” said Joel Scata, a senior attorney in the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate adaptation division.Resources
Insurance Fairness Project: Polling – Voters Want Their Government to Address the Property Insurance Crisis
Public Citizen and the Revolving Door Project: Mapping the Home Insurance Crisis
Consumer Federation of America: Overburdened: The Dramatic Increase in Homeowners Insurance Premiums and its Impacts on American Homeowners
Brookings Institution: Homeowners insurance in an era of climate change
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The Insurance Fairness Project is an information hub dedicated to offering insights into the home insurance crisis, exploring its drivers and highlighting solutions alongside issue experts and community advocates.
