Weekly Roundup: Can Insurance Survive, Mercury Rate Hike, Hurricane Helene Spotlights Flood Insurance Gap
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2025
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
Weekly Roundup: Can Insurance Survive, Mercury Rate Hike, Hurricane Helene Spotlights Flood Insurance Gap
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/ PROBABLE FUTURES: IS THE FUTURE STILL INSURABLE? A new essay from Probable Futures explores whether modern insurance can survive the era of climate change. As disasters intensify, the foundational principles of risk-pooling and prediction are eroding, potentially leaving entire regions unprotected and uninsurable.
Probable Futures: Is the Future Insurable?
Our window of insurability is narrowing as the planet warms. To preserve the important financial protection that insurance provides to households, businesses, and the broader economy, we must refocus attention on the policies, innovations, and commitments to risk reduction that can preserve insurability.
2/ NEW YORK LAWMAKERS TO PROBE RISING INSURANCE RATES: Three New York state legislators are launching an investigation into skyrocketing homeowners insurance costs, saying that premium increases and reductions in coverage can’t be squared with the industry’s record profits.
Times Union: Lawmakers seek to investigate NY’s soaring home insurance rates
“The industry is making money hand-over-fist in New York regularly, every single year, from its policy holders. And I want to know why my constituents and all New Yorkers are paying such a premium,” Skoufis said. “There are only two sort of possibilities to explain away these high rates and these large profit margins in New York: either we’re subsidizing other states, or we’re padding the profits of these carriers. I don’t like either of them as a policymaker.”
3/ MERCURY PROPOSED CONTROVERSIAL RATE HIKE IN CA: Mercury Insurance asked California regulators for a proposed increased rate of 6.9%, potentially impacting many homeowners. This comes amid fierce debate over how climate risk, profitability, and regulation intersect.
4/ CALIFORNIA BILL ENSURES HOMEOWNERS RECEIVE AT LEAST SOME INTEREST ON INSURANCE PAYOUTS: A California bill heading to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk would guarantee homeowners a share of the interest earned on insurance payouts held in escrow after disasters. Assemblymember John Harabedian introduced the measure in response to constituent struggles following January’s devastating Los Angeles fires. The bill applies to both current and future escrowed payouts.
CNBC: California legislature passes bill that gives interest on insurance payouts to homeowners
“It’s sad that we have to introduce a bill to make the banks and the mortgage lenders do the right thing, but this is about homeowners getting all the financial help that they can throughout this difficult period,” Harabedian said
5/ FLORIDA INSURANCE CRISIS DEEPENS AS PREMIUMS SOAR: Florida homeowners now pay the highest average home insurance premiums in the nation, over $6,000 annually, nearly quadruple the national average. This trend, driven by storm losses and insurer exits, is pricing families out of protection.
Tampa Bay Times: The truth about Florida home insurance prices: Most homeowners still seeing hikes
Among those who reported increases, Edwin Copeland, a Fort Lauderdale resident, called homeowner insurance “a total scam.” He wrote that his cost increased despite the fact that “I have every discount possible and never filed a claim.”
6/ HURRICANE HELENE EXPOSES MASSIVE FLOOD INSURANCE GAP: Just 1% of out-of-state homeowners impacted by Hurricane Helene had flood insurance, exposing a massive preparedness gap as climate disasters grow. Many believed their standard policies would cover the damage, only to find out too late they didn’t.
ABC News 4: Just 1% of non-Floridian homeowners hit by Hurricane Helene had flood insurance
"People here, over generation after generation, have been self-sustaining in a way. Living off the land to start this community. And then, up to this point, still being able to say generation after generation has lived here, and we've been able to survive and thrive. I think that sets us up for a faster recovery in some ways."
7/ PUBLIC INPUT ON THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM (NFIP) WELCOMED: NFIP provides coverage to 4.7 million people nationwide. With the Sept. 30 deadline to renew the program rapidly approaching, Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) are requesting input on potential reforms to the program.
ABA Banking Journal: Senators seek public feedback on National Flood Insurance Program reforms
“Trustworthy data and research with proper citations will be especially appreciated, as they help ensure that decisions made about the NFIP’s future are based on sound policy analysis,” they said. “In addition, we welcome any suggestions for alternative language or policy approaches that you believe would improve the NFIP.”
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
Revolving Door Project: Trump disaster policy tracker:Timeline and Map
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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.
