Weekly Roundup: New Consumer Protections Emerge as Insurance Affordability Worsens
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2026
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
Weekly Roundup: New Consumer Protections Emerge as Insurance Affordability Worsens
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/ “THE HOME INSURANCE COIN FLIP”: NONPAYMENT RATES SKYROCKET, LEAVING FAMILIES IN THE LURCH FOLLOWING DISASTERS: New data from the Wall Street Journal show that the five largest home insurers didn’t pay out on over 44% of claims resolved last year, up from 36% a decade earlier, despite premiums continuing to rise nationwide.
The Wall Street Journal: The Home-Insurance Coin Flip: Nearly Half of Claims Result in Zero Payout
“They have made us feel almost like criminals,” Christopher Monroe [a Florida resident fighting his insurer in court after his home was destroyed in Hurricane Milton in 2024] said. “All we’re asking them to do is pay the claim.”
2/ INCREASING INSURANCE COSTS ARE PUTTING THE REAL ESTATE MARKET AT RISK: A new analysis finds that climate exposure and rising insurance costs are becoming major factors in how investors, lenders, and developers evaluate real estate. In some high-risk areas, insurance premiums have tripled, cutting into property income and making financing more difficult.
3/ EXTREME WEATHER COULD TRIGGER $20 TRILLION IN NEW SPENDING PRESSURES: Bloomberg Intelligence analysts are warning that worsening climate-fueled disasters could drive nearly $20 trillion in additional costs across the U.S. economy over the next decade.
Insurance Journal: Extreme Weather to Drive $20 Trillion in Spending
While several sectors are poised to benefit from climate-related spending, other parts of the economy are likely to bear the brunt of climate-change costs. Bloomberg Intelligence identified municipalities and consumers as among the most exposed.
4/ ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS ADVANCE KEY INSURANCE CONSUMER PROTECTIONS: Illinois passed SB 714 and HB 4273 to increase rate hike transparency and empower the Department of Insurance to block excessive increases.SB 4006 was also recently passed, which creates the Strengthen Illinois Homes Program for weather protection and requires climate risk disclosures.
While these bills are viewed by many as steps in the right direction, rising costs and limited options continue to worsen the national insurance affordability crisis impacting families, and necessary relief is unlikely without additional action from lawmakers in Illinois and nationwide.
5/ CLIMATE RISKS CONTINUE TO TEST INSURANCE MARKETS, AND WILL WORSEN INSURANCE GAPS: A new white paper warns that deepening reliance on private flood insurance could leave more households without affordable coverage as climate risks grow, and that outdated and unreliable FEMA flood maps are contributing to data gaps that puts the number of homeowners who are inadequately covered much higher than previously believed.
Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR): Privatization and Climate Risk Will Expand the US Flood Insurance Gap
Meanwhile, new reporting highlights how the loss of wetlands across the United States is removing a critical natural defense against flooding. Continued wetland destruction could increase flood damage and insurance losses.
Yahoo News: America's disappearing wetlands quietly added $10 billion to flood insurance claims, study finds
6/ WILDFIRE SEASON IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE: Forecasters are predicting elevated wildfire activity across parts of the Western United States this month due to droughts, higher temperatures, and volatile global fuel management, highlighting the mounting disaster threats that continue to drive insurance market instability nationwide.
Outdoor Life: We’re Having Our Worst Wildfire Year in a Decade, and It’s Probably Going to Get Worse
“What we’re seeing with intensity and frequency of fires … and whether you call it changing weather patterns or climate change, if there was ever a time we needed more research, more technology development, [more staff], it’s now,” former USFS chief Tom Tidwell told OL this spring. “This is not a time for less.”
Meanwhile, some California homeowners are discovering that even when they can secure coverage, they may face steep wildfire deductibles that leave them responsible for tens of thousands of dollars in losses before insurance coverage kicks in.
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.
