Weekly Roundup: Regional Differences Are Shaping The Home Insurance Landscape in 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 6, 2025
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
Weekly Roundup: Regional Differences Are Shaping The Home Insurance Landscape in 2026
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/ INSURANCE CRISIS SPREADING ACROSS STATES: Homeowners are struggling with skyrocketing insurance costs across the U.S. – spreading to every corner of the country.
Facing pressure over soaring homeowners insurance costs and harmful practices by major insurers, Oklahoma lawmakers filed bills to increase transparency and consumer protection as homeowners struggle with affordability and face limited options.
A recent report from Unlocking America’s Future (UAF) highlights Texas homeowners facing record-high premiums, increased claim denials, and dropped coverage. Lawmakers and advocates are demanding stronger oversight amid extreme weather and market pressures.
Another recent report from UAF details North Carolina's failing insurance system. To publicize the findings, UAF held a press call featuring experts who demanded insurance company accountability.
And in Idaho, thousands of homeowners are confronting canceled insurance policies and steep rate hikes which are making coverage scarce and expensive. The crisis is forcing buyers and existing owners to either pay much more or go without basic protections altogether.
2/ CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS ADVANCE WHILE POLLS SHOW VOTER CONCERNS: Rising home insurance costs across CA and the U.S. are influencing voter sentiment and driving legislative solutions, including a new bill introduced this week. The legislation aims to lighten the burden of cost for consumers and to require Big Oil to pitch in for the economic damage caused by e climate disasters.
LA Times: California bill would make fossil fuel companies help pay for rising insurance costs
“With California’s paying such a massive cost for climate-related disasters, we have to ask who is not paying?” Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said at a Thursday press conference held outside the state Capitol.
The Sacramento Bee: New bill aims to allow California AG to sue oil companies for disaster costs
“The climate disasters underlying the insurance crisis in California are the result of a decades-long, coordinated campaign of deception launched and orchestrated by major fossil fuel companies,” the proposal, Senate Bill 982, said.
California Environmental Voters: New Polling Shows Californians Want a Governor Who Tackles Affordability by Leading on Clean Energy, Environmental Protection, and Corporate Accountability
92% of California likely voters say reducing home insurance costs and ensuring coverage availability is important, ranking it alongside energy and water bills.
California’s new “Make It FAIR Act” (Assembly Bill 1680) is also on the move. This bill aims to require the California FAIR Plan to offer the same scope of coverage as a standard home insurance policy.
Relatedly, California wildfire victims are still waiting on itemized receipts from insurance providers. In response, Sen. Adam Schiff and other members of the state's Democratic congressional delegation have requested that major home insurers justify their claims policies.
3/ INCREASED USE OF AI IN INSURANCE IS WORRYING POLICYHOLDERS: Property insurers are increasingly adopting AI to boost efficiency and enhance risk modeling. While AI has been promoted as a "game-changing" tool, its performance in recent years has included algorithmic bias, privacy issues, lack of transparency, and inaccurate predictions regarding climate change.
Capital and Main: Amid Climate Crisis, Insurers’ Increased Use of AI Raises Concern For Policyholders
“I’m pretty sure these companies make these programs just to sell to insurance companies so that they can lowball people because the insurers are interested in squeezing people for profit,” he said.
4/ NEW CA REGULATION WOULD EXEMPT INSURERS FROM EMISSIONS REPORTING: In December, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released draft regulations that would give into industry demands and exempt insurance companies from SB 253’s greenhouse gas reporting requirements.
It’s not clear why CARB is going out of its way (and potentially exceeding its authority) to allow industry preferences. CARB frames the change as a matter of “continuity,” arguing that SB 253 should align with SB 261, which already exempts insurers. CARB has been lobbied by trade groups including the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA).
If finalized, the move would allow insurance companies to skirt both of California’s landmark 2023 climate accountability laws.
We will continue reporting on this as the situation develops.
5/ LENDING TREE’S REPORT HIGHIGHTS REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN HOME INSURANCE: Lending Tree released their home insurance stability report for 2026, which highlights the regional differences in insurance markets across the country. With increasing construction costs, inflation and more severe climate disasters, homeowners in certain regions are facing higher premiums and reduced coverage availability.
Lending Tree: 2026 Home Insurance Stability Report
New England states Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have the most home insurance stability….
Louisiana, Iowa and Arkansas have the least stable home insurance markets….
Colorado, Iowa and Minnesota have seen the steepest premium surges….
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
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.
