Weekly Roundup: IFP Midyear Report Shows Premiums Soaring Premiums; TX Victims Testify
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 1, 2025
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
Weekly Roundup: IFP Midyear Report Shows Premiums Soaring; TX Victims Testify
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/ OUR MIDYEAR REPORT ON THE HOME INSURANCE CRISIS: As record climate-driven storms, fires, and floods hit American communities more frequently than ever, the insurance crisis is mounting in every state. Our new midyear report (PDF) documents skyrocketing premiums, disappearing coverage, and a regulatory system that’s failing the people it’s supposed to protect. Some findings:
Premiums are sharply up: Since 2019, average premiums nationwide are up 40.5%, with 2025 alone bringing 27% hikes in Illinois and Louisiana.
Floods are hitting places far outside FEMA’s maps, and most homeowners don’t realize insurance won’t pay out.
Insurers are refusing to pay claims: last year big insurers closed nearly half of claims with no payment.
Download the report >> Special Report: The Insurance Crisis at Midyear (PDF)
2/ TEXAS FLOOD SURVIVORS TESTIFY: In a Kerrville hearing, disaster victims told legislators county officials slept through the disaster and state and federal authorities left them hanging. Next up for many: navigating the tortuous insurance claims process.
KUT: 'The state is broken': Kerrville residents testify at state hearing over flood response
Washington Post: Texas lawmakers fault Kerr County officials on response to deadly floods
Texas Tribune:Top two Kerr County emergency officials say they were asleep as July 4 floods struck
3/ SCE PLANS TO COMPENSATE L.A. FIRE VICTIMS: Responsibility for the Eaton fire hasn’t yet been determined, but the leading theory is that Southern California Edison transmission lines were to blame.
CalMatters: Southern California Edison says it will create an Eaton Fire ‘compensation program.’ Survivors are skeptical
“My first reaction was they are trying to buy us off,” [fire victim Mike Rothschild] said. “It felt like they knew they had a serious problem and they were throwing some cash out to hopefully make it go away.”
4/ HUGE RATE HIKES AND LIMITED COVERAGE: Farmers Insurance raised one homeowner’s annual premium by 381%, bringing her total bill to over $13,000 — an extreme case of what homeowners across the country are seeing.
ABC News 10: Homeowner with Farmers Insurance hit with 381% annual premium hike
The Fallbrook resident said her insurance premiums have increased by 900% since she purchased her home in 2019. If she can’t find another company to insure her, she said she may have to move out of her dream retirement home or join the FAIR plan.Mercury News: California’s property insurance apocalypse: Some progress, no immediate relief
Nazmi Lee’s insurer, Travelers, threatened to drop her $8,700-a-year coverage policy last year. Then it agreed to renew — for a staggering $13,000. Since other insurers were quoting up to $30,000, Lee re-upped with Travelers. Advocacy nonprofit Consumer Watchdog doubts the insurance industry will hit the 85% mark for policies in fire-risk zones.
5/ ADVOCATES WANT MONTANA LAWMAKERS TO SEE INSURER DATA: In Montana, a letter to the Legislature calls for transparency from insurers to help get to the bottom of why home insurance rates are rising there.
Daily Montanan: Property insurance rates to get a look by legislature
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners kept the data public until 2022, the letter says, and hasn’t released certain localized data from the report. “In requesting this study, the Legislature identified the critical information gap regarding Montana’s property insurance market….”
6/ WHILE BIG INSURERS SEE BIG PROFITS, THEY KEEP LEAVING HOMEOWNERS UNPROTECTED: National insurers made $164 billion last year from investing homeowners’ premiums and are handing out record pay packages to execs, but they keep pulling out of markets and cancelling policies.
Other Words: Big Insurance Companies Are Fleecing Disaster Survivors — And The Rest Of Us
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.
