Weekly Roundup: As Climate Risks Grow, So Does the Pressure on Families and Communities
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2026
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
Weekly Roundup: As Climate Risks Grow, So Does the Pressure on Families and Communities
Each week, the Insurance Fairness Project highlights the latest developments in the national climate-driven property insurance crisis. For more insurance updates, follow us on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Bluesky.
1/ GEORGIA’S HOME INSURANCE CRISIS IS ACCELERATING: A new report from the Insurance Fairness Project underscores the urgency of Georgia’s worsening home insurance crisis, with increased climate disasters causing premium costs to surge by more than 30% since 2019. For many families, insurers are abruptly dropping coverage altogether, forcing them to search for alternative solutions in a tightening and increasingly expensive market.
Insurance Fairness Project: New Report: Climate Catastrophes Are Destabilizing Georgia’s Home Insurance Market
“The insurance industry and other corporate interests have created a system that protects their profits while leaving consumers exposed,” said TJ Helmstetter, a spokesperson for the Insurance Fairness Project. “Without the necessary intervention from Georgia lawmakers, the state’s affordability crisis is trending toward a point of no return, leaving hundreds of thousands of families abandoned and financially responsible for absorbing the consequences.”
2/ CALIFORNIA FACES ANOTHER FIRE WHILE LAST YEAR’S SURVIVORS ARE STILL RECOVERING: Four days in, the Sandy Fire in Ventura County’s wildland-urban interface zone, is only 40% contained, with tens of thousands evacuated. California's latest climate-driven disaster happens as experts warn of another aggressive wildfire season, with many households still struggling with the financial fallout from last year’s devastating fires.
Eaton Fire survivors traveled to the State Capitol this week urging lawmakers to approve additional recovery funding and strengthen consumer protections. At the same time, new reporting has raised questions about the impact of cleanup efforts in fire-impacted communities. These developments highlight growing fears that California homeowners are being left financially and physically vulnerable in the aftermath of extreme climate disasters.
New York Times: What to Know About the Wildfires in Southern California
LA Times: Containment grows on Sandy fire, other SoCal blazes. But shifting winds pose challenge
CBS News: Eaton Fire survivors plead at State Capitol for more rebuild funding, better protection laws
LA Times: Feds declare Eaton fire was a cleanup success. Their testing shows otherwise
3/ CALIFORNIA HOMEOWNERS FACE NEW PRICING AND COVERAGE PRESSURES: California’s FAIR Plan announced an average 30% rate increase for policyholders, with some seeing premiums more than double — underscoring the alarming instability and unaffordability of the state's insurer-of-last-resort program. The FAIR Plan has seen enrollment surge roughly 400% since 2018, as increasingly severe climate disasters have caused private insurers to withdraw coverage and sent some premiums up by more than 350% since 2018.
San Francisco Chronicle: One of California’s largest insurers will hike rates nearly 30% this fall
Households are now reporting that ordinary property features, including flat roofs, older materials, or deferred maintenance, can trigger nonrenewals or sharp premium increases. One San Francisco homeowner lost coverage after his insurer flagged his flat roof — the most common roof type in his neighborhood — as too risky.
San Francisco Chronicle: This S.F. homeowner lost insurance because of a flat roof. Could it happen to you?
In response to pressures like these, California insurance commissioner candidates have proposed expanding the state’s role in protecting homeowners from insurance market pressures, through measures like a publicly backed wildfire insurance system, state-supported reinsurance programs, or public-private partnerships designed to keep insurers from abandoning high-risk communities altogether.
4/ NORTH CAROLINA’S OUTER BANKS EXPOSE GAPS IN THE NATION’S FLOOD INSURANCE SYSTEM: Along North Carolina’s Outer Banks, coastal erosion and rising seas are threatening homes, but many property owners are discovering that federal flood insurance offers little help until disaster has already struck. National Flood Insurance Program policies often only provide coverage once a home fully collapses, leaving homeowners with few financial incentives to address dangers proactively.
E&E News: Outer Banks village makes bid to save houses from the sea
“I understand insurance really well,” Williams said. “I get that it’s for catastrophic kinds of things. But if you have zero incentive, or a very small incentive … and you have virtually no help from your insurance policy, it’s a perverse incentive to just let it go.”
Meanwhile, homeowners across North Carolina are bracing for another jump in insurance costs as a statewide average 7.5% rate increase takes effect June 1, adding new financial pressure for families already struggling with rising housing and utility bills. While insurers had originally pushed for a 42% increase, even the scaled-back hike is forcing difficult choices about whether they can continue affording to stay in their homes.
WRAL News: North Carolina homeowners insurance rates rising 7.5%; Democrats call hike 'insurance crisis'
“We moved here because we thought we weren’t going to have insurance issues,” Dunn said.
This week Unlocking America’s Future (UAF) released a new report exposing how North Carolina’s Republican members of Congress have failed to take action on the climate-driven home insurance crisis. Along with the report, UAF hosted a press call where speakers discussed the worsening crisis and potential solutions.
Unlocking America’s Future: WATCH: North Carolina Republicans Helped Create the Insurance Crisis Now Devastating Their Own Districts
5/ HAILSTORMS ARE DRIVING UP INSURANCE COSTS: Insurify reports that hailstorms are becoming one of the fastest-growing threats to insurance stability across several states. The increasingly destructive hail events are contributing to higher repair costs, more insurance claims, and mounting pressure on homeowners already struggling with rising premiums.
Insurify: The Next Insurance Crisis: Hailstorms Are Quickly and Quietly Driving Up Home Insurance Costs
Unlocking America’s Future: As Climate Change Fuels Hailstorms Driving The Next Insurance Crisis, Texas Politicians Are Blocking Discounts That Could Protect Homeowners
6/ MOST INSURERS ACKNOWLEDGE CLIMATE RISK, BUT NOT THE FULL THREAT: Ceres recently released its 2026 Progress Report on climate risk reporting in the insurance sector, finding that while most U.S. insurers now acknowledge climate-related financial risk, the industry is still failing to fully measure and disclose the scale of the danger.
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
Consumer Federation of America and Climate and Community Institute: Penalized: The Hidden Cost of Credit Score in Homeowners Insurance Premiums
Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen: Rising Property Insurance Premiums: The Uneven Risks to Household and Systemic Financial Stability
Climate and Community Institute (CCI): Insurers of Last Resort: Why Today’s FAIR Plans Need a Redesign to Address the Home Insurance Crisis
Center for Climate Integrity: How Big Oil is Fueling the Insurance Crisis And Why State Policymakers Should Act
Dave Jones, Yale Law Journal: The Uninsurable Future: The Climate Threat to Property Insurance, and How to Stop It
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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.
