Weekly Roundup: Is Property Insurance “Doomed”?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2025
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
Weekly Roundup: Is Property Insurance “Doomed”?
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/ HOMEOWNERS HIT WITH MORE RATE HIKES: According to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Home Insurance Study, 47% of all U.S. homeowners insurance customers experienced a premium increase in the past year. This represents the highest rate of insurer-initiated hikes in over a decade.
J.D. Power: Homeowners Insurance Premium Increases Threaten Customer Loyalty, Long-Term Profitability, J.D. Power Finds
Consumer Affairs: Nearly half of U.S. homeowners hit with insurance rate hikes
“In a year marked by inflation, severe weather and tightening reinsurance markets, home insurance premiums have risen sharply in many parts of the country,” said Craig Martin, executive director of global insurance intelligence at J.D. Power. “While these increases often reflect real cost pressures, they’re also eroding trust and driving customers to shop for alternatives.”
CBS News: Homeowners insurance costs have shot up 70% since 2021. Here's why.
2/ BLOOMBERG: HOME INSURANCE MIGHT BE “DOOMED”: A new column by Bloomberg’s Mark Gongloff highlights the potential fixes (and non-fixes) for America’s home insurance crisis. Insurance premiums have seen a significant surge, increasing by at least 74% since the Great Recession. This trend continues, with a 20% rise in the last two years alone, and a projected 8% national gain this year.
Bloomberg: Home Insurance as You Know It Is Doomed. You’re Not Ready.
As Moira Birss, senior fellow at the Climate and Community Institute, a progressive think tank, put it in the webinar: “The more we reduce catastrophe risk, the less we need the safety net of insurance.”
3/ FL HOME INSURER OF LAST RESORT SET UP “ALTERNATE LEGAL UNIVERSE” TO DENY CLAIMS: ProPublica released an in-depth investigation by reporter Mario Ariza revealing how forced arbitration has allowed Florida’s insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, to deny claims and minimize payouts to policyholders. Policyholders Lose 90% of the Time In Forced Arbitration Cases Decided By Administrative Judges Whose Salaries are Funded by Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out something’s wrong,” said Chip Merlin, president of Merlin Law Group, a firm that represents insurance policyholders.
Public Citizen: As Climate Change Worsens Insurance Crisis, Florida’s Insurer of Last Resort Uses Forced Arbitration to Falsely Deny Homeowners’ Claims
“The use of forced arbitration pushes homeowners in crisis into a non-judicial forum where they struggle to be treated fairly,” said Mekedas Belayneh, policy advocate with Public Citizen’s Climate Program. “By allowing the state-run insurer of last resort to force policyholders into a rigged system, Florida lawmakers are letting industry insiders decide homeowners’ financial fates.”
A Florida judge has issued an injunction following a legal challenge to the forced arbitration system on constitutional grounds. Meanwhile, Congressman Maxwell Frost has demanded an investigation into the issue.
4/ UNPAID CLAIM LAWSUITS RISE AFTER FLORIDA “TORT REFORM”: According to a data analysis by Weiss Ratings, an independent firm based in Florida, the state's 2022 tort reform law, intended to decrease lawsuits against home insurers for unpaid claims, has instead had the opposite effect.
Digital Insurance: Florida unpaid claim lawsuits rise after tort reform
"It's a shock, because the state, the lawyers, the large insurance companies, even people on the side of consumers expected that with tort reform, it's going to be a lot harder for consumers to sue," Weiss said in a webcast hosted by the Insurance Fairness Project on September 11. "People sued more than they did before tort reform."
News Channel 7 WJHG: Report: Florida insurance reforms not easing costs as promised
5/ CLIMATE CHANGE POSING THREAT TO PROPERTY INSURANCE MARKET: This new coverage in Newsweek makes the connection between the climate-driven insurance crisis and insurance companies own investments in fossil fuels. On the one hand, $600 billion in damage can be attributed to climate change, and on the other hand, companies like State Farm and Berkshire Hathaway are investing billions in coal, oil, and gas – while also insuring top emitters. In some cases, insurance companies are underwriting fossil fuel projects near communities where they are withdrawing home coverage.
Newsweek: How Home Insurers Are Fueling Costs for Americans
Dave Jones, the former insurance commissioner of California who is now director of the Climate Risk Initiative at UC Berkeley's Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, told Newsweek: "The insurance crisis is the canary in the coal mine for the climate crisis. And the canary is dying."
Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog said: "Insurance companies get away with it because they're shifting all those costs to consumers. So they're profiting from insuring fossil fuel companies, but when climate-driven weather events cause a catastrophe, they externalize all the costs. Consumers pay for insurance companies to exacerbate climate change in the form of rate hikes, nonrenewals and low-balled claims that deny them the benefits they've paid for, sometimes for decades"
6/ INSURANCE CRISIS HITS AGRICULTURAL COUNTIES: A new analysis by Inside Climate News reveals that Florida's insurance crisis disproportionately affects the state's agricultural heartland, particularly its disadvantaged counties, where residents are largely shouldering the financial burden themselves.
Inside Climate News: In the Midst of Florida’s Insurance Crisis, What Recourse Do Residents Have?
Inside Climate News’ analysis reveals the homeowners who are most vulnerable to losing insurance are those with the least resources for dealing with disasters. These homeowners live dozens of miles from the coasts in the underserved agricultural communities of Florida’s heartland.
7/ NEW REPORT SHOWS “UNEVEN RISKS”: A new report from Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen examines how increases in property insurance rates and decreasing availability affect household financial stability, particularly for lower-credit score borrowers and borrowers of color. It also explores the potential implications of rising borrower risk for mortgage credit risk holders and investors.
Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen: Rising Property Insurance Premiums: The Uneven Risks to Household and Systemic Financial Stability
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
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
Weiss Ratings: Florida Hurricane Season Strikes Insurance Industry in Turmoil
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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.
