Weekly Roundup: Underwater, Uninsured, and Unprotected - How a Broken Insurance System Is Leaving Americans Exposed to Climate Disasters
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10, 2025
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
Weekly Roundup: Underwater, Uninsured, and Unprotected - How a Broken Insurance System Is Leaving Americans Exposed to Climate Disasters
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/ HOW THE INSURANCE CRISIS EXACERBATED THE JULY 4TH TX DISASTER: New report from the Insurance Fairness Project (that’s us!) details how the ongoing insurance crisis worsened the impact of the July 4th Texas floods. As climate-driven disasters intensify and the insurance system continues to unravel, a growing number of Americans are being left dangerously exposed.
Insurance Fairness Project: Underwater and Uninsured: How the Insurance Crisis Exacerbated July 4th’s Texas Disaster
Key takeaways:
The Texas floods caused up to $22 billion in economic damage, most of it uninsured. Just 3% of the disaster’s victims had flood insurance. The average Texan pays $4,000/year for home insurance — and some households pay up to $15,000 — leaving many families underinsured or forgoing insurance entirely.
3,000 businesses were damaged or destroyed in the floods. Many will never be able to reopen either because insurance won’t cover the costs of recovery or because their customers are gone.
FEMA’s response has been riddled with delays, disparities, and denials, especially in the hardest-hit communities.
Quote from the Insurance Fairness Project attributable to spokesperson Lizzy Price:
“The July 4th floods weren’t just a natural disaster, they were an insurance disaster. Texans were left underwater twice: first by the floods themselves, and then by a broken insurance system that abandoned families when they needed it most. What happened in Texas is a warning for the rest of the country - the insurance system that is supposed to keep us afloat is not working.”
Additional coverage:
Fox 26 Houston: 3% of Central Texas homes in flood zone had federal flood insurance: report
"In this case, consumers and businesses didn’t even have the insurance. It’s a national problem and here, the situation was particularly bad because this is a flood-prone area," explained Birnbaum.
2/ FL INSURANCE CRISIS PERSISTS AS DESANTIS DOUBLES DOWN: New reporting from E&E News that FL Gov. Ron DeSantis told a crowd of insurance industry executives that he does not expect the Legislature to make “any significant changes” to insurance policy in 2026 – shutting the door on consumer relief. Troublingly, DeSantis defended his past rollbacks of legal protections for policyholders (“tort reform”) and praised GOP lawmakers for refusing to revisit the issue despite data demonstrating that FL’s tort reform is backfiring – and not solving the insurance crisis.
Here’s what to know:
Florida homeowners continue to pay the nation’s highest average premiums, more than $3,800 per year, according to state regulators.
Despite DeSantis’ claims of market “stability,” insurers have not delivered significant rate reductions, and residents across the state cite affordability as a top concern.A recent poll found 56% of Miami-Dade voters are considering leaving Florida because of cost-of-living pressures, driven in part by rising insurance costs.
Weiss Ratings shows that as insurance companies are denying home damage claims more aggressively, policyholders are fighting back by suing at a higher rate.
Recent coverage:
E&E News / ClimateWire: DeSantis predicts legislators won’t meddle with insurance laws update
Washington Post: Florida’s fix for its struggling insurance market hurt homeowners, data shows
Weiss Ratings: How Florida Tort Reform Has Backfired
Quote from the Insurance Fairness Project:
“Floridians are still paying record-high premiums while insurers enjoy record profits,” said Lizzy Price, spokesperson for the Insurance Fairness Project. “Governor DeSantis’ refusal to fix a broken system shows just how far state leaders will go to protect insurance companies instead of Florida families.”
3/ LOUISIANA RESIDENTS FRUSTRATED OVER INSURER RATE HIKES AND FOSSIL FUEL INVESTMENTS: Coastal residents are bearing the brunt of environmental damage and escalating climate risks that are sending insurance costs soaring. At the same time, many insurers are pouring money into the very fossil fuel projects driving those risks, deepening the crisis they claim to insure against.
Capital and Main: On Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, Residents Fume as Insurers Hike Rates and Invest in Fossil Fuel Projects
“Insurance companies are supposed to protect us from catastrophic risks,” the report’s authors wrote. “Yet when it comes to climate change, insurers perpetuate climate chaos and dependence on fossil fuels by insuring new coal, oil, and gas projects while raising premiums and abandoning communities that are hit by worsening and repeat climate disasters.”
4/ BAY AREA RESIDENTS FACE CA FAIR PLAN AS RATE HIKE LOOMS: In Clayton, California, 215 homeowners have been dropped by their insurance providers and relegated to the California FAIR Plan. This plan, intended for high-risk properties, only covers fire damage and is significantly more expensive than private insurance, costing thousands of dollars extra.
CBS News: Bay Area community will have to use California FAIR plan as rate hike looms
"In the case of California, we found that 100 percent of the representatives that have voting power in the governing committee of CA's FAIR Plan were industry executives or company representatives," said Institute Fellow Isabel Penaranda Currie. "Which just shows that these FAIR Plans are not fulfilling their mandate or are reflecting the fact that they're public policy but instead are for, and by, private insurers, basically."
LA Times: California’s home insurer of last resort seeks 36% rate hike following January fires
Additionally, escalating insurance costs pose a significant threat to the survival of small California towns, particularly for residents and business owners in rural, high-fire risk areas. Many homeowners, even those who own their properties outright, are being compelled to forgo insurance entirely due to the prohibitive rates.
5/ FL RESIDENTS STILL RECOVERING ONE YEAR AFTER HURRICANE MILTON: One year after making landfall as a Category 3 storm, Hurricane Milton continues to impact lives in Central Florida. In Volusia County, which experienced over 15 inches of rain from the storm, some residents are still working towards recovery.
Central Florida Public Media: Some Central Floridians still recovering one year out from Hurricane Milton
“I smile, because if you don't smile, you cry,” Venables said. “It's been absolutely horrific financially for us; pretty much broken us.”
“People won't always want to come and buy a house that's flooded. We realize that. So our market's smaller,” Claire Venables said.
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
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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.
