August 13, 2026, Law360® Insurance Authority – Affordability of insurance is a product and function of inflation, Lisa Miller, former deputy insurance commissioner of Florida and CEO of the government consulting firm Lisa Miller & Associates, told Law360… And when looking at catastrophe claims, the storms in the Southeast region “are not your grandmother’s storms anymore,” Miller said… Miller also took issue with this timeline, telling Law360 that the study compares data during a time when Florida saw nine insurance companies go insolvent (Original story location: https://www.law360.com/insurance-authority/property/articles/2513018/carrier-growth-comes-at-insureds-expense-report-shows)
A novel analysis of homeowners insurance market trends from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners shows an operationally strong market with diverse insurer participation and a rebound in underwriting profitability, but some experts warn that below the surface, the data reveals that insureds are left to pick up carriers’ tabs.
The analysis, which the NAIC called the first of its kind as it released the results July 31, pulled from data that insurers reported to state regulators between 2018 and 2024. As of the most recent data, the NAIC said, 715 companies were writing homeowners coverage. And after several years of fluctuation, underwriting profit improved by 2024 across all regions, broken down by the report into the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and Western zones.
Despite this growth, the average premium per policy increased across every region since 2018, averaging 2.4% to 5.3% per year.
Insurers also reported over 2 million homeowners company-initiated nonrenewals nationwide in 2024, according to the report. The Southeast and Western regions had the highest rates of these nonrenewals, at 22 and 25.1 per 1,000 policies in effect, respectively.
Hilary Segura, vice president of state government relations at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, told Law360 in a statement that the report’s “data and overall conclusions are generally consistent with APCIA’s long-standing message that homeowners markets remain functional but are under significant pressure from increasing loss costs and catastrophe exposure.”
Despite an increasingly stable environment, carriers are still operating in a market plagued by increasing claim frequency and severity, Segura said. These cost pressures are being driven by an amalgamation of inflation, construction cost increases and natural catastrophes, she said.
When looking at the report, it’s important not to confuse “operationally strong” with insurance being available and affordable, former California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones told Law360.
The report takes the perspective that because carriers are still writing this type of coverage across the country and underwriting results have shown improvement, the market is functioning well. These gains, however, come at the expense of the policyholder, Jones said.
“Insurers might be doing OK, but Americans are not in terms of the affordability and availability of insurance, and that’s principally being driven by these climate events which are causing the insurers to raise their rates and not write insurance in certain parts of the country,” he said.
According to the report, catastrophe claims affected overall claims ratios as evidenced by the losses homeowners insurers incurred in the Midwest over the past few years due to severe convective storms.
“Rising claim severity during this period has put financial stress on homeowners companies,” especially in the Midwest region, the report said.
Affordability of insurance is a product and function of inflation, Lisa Miller, former deputy insurance commissioner of Florida and CEO of the government consulting firm Lisa Miller & Associates, told Law360.
According to the report, the Southeast zone reported an average premium per policy of $1,818 in 2024, the highest of the four zones. In comparing premium values between 2018 and 2024, the NAIC adjusted for inflation and noted that general price inflation in the U.S. increased at a significant rate, especially between 2021 and 2023.
And when looking at catastrophe claims, the storms in the Southeast region “are not your grandmother’s storms anymore,” Miller said.
As far as the impact climate change has had on the insurance industry, Jones told Law360 that rising rates and increased nonrenewals are signs that carriers are adept at “pushing the costs of climate change down onto American homeowners and small businesses.”
“What insurers so far have refused to do is go upstream and take steps to hold accountable the major emitters that are contributing to climate change and causing insurance to be unaffordable and unavailable,” he said.
Insurers have the right to subrogation, allowing them to sue third parties whose actions or inactions cause damage to an insured. Health insurers sued tobacco companies to recover payments for medical treatment associated with respiratory illness, and home insurers sued Pacific Gas & Electric for starting the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California, Jones said.
“What insurers can and should be doing is bringing lawsuits against the fossil fuel companies, whose emissions are the major contributor to the global warming that’s driving the insurance losses,” he said.
The report fell short of insurers’ expectations by only collecting data through 2024.
“The report reflects market conditions through 2024, a period when many insurers were still implementing significant rate adjustments and underwriting changes in response to several years of rapidly rising loss costs,” Segura told Law360.
“Since then, market conditions have begun to improve in many states,” she said. “Rate increases have generally moderated, competition and capacity have increased, and consumers in many areas are seeing greater availability of coverage as insurers regain confidence in the underlying economics of the market.”
Miller also took issue with this timeline, telling Law360 that the study compares data during a time when Florida saw nine insurance companies go insolvent.
The state, however, has added 20 total insurers to its property and casualty market following legislative changes enacted by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky in 2023.
According to the NAIC, the report is only the first step of a “more detailed property insurance market data analysis.” The association held a data call in March to collect ZIP-code-level data from property and casualty carriers, including information on premiums, claims, losses and nonrenewals.
Regulators will also participate in a data call, giving them a more detailed view of the market. The hope is that with improved data, regulators will have better tools to identify pressure points and help protect consumers while maintaining a stable insurance market.
California is one of the states participating in that call.
“Data is essential to understanding what consumers are experiencing and where insurance markets are improving or remain challenged,” California Department of Insurance press secretary Gabriel Sanchez told Law360 in a statement.
It’s crucial that every state participate in the data call, Jones said. In the 2024 data call, a number of major states, including Florida and Texas, did not.
With many insurers being state- or region-based, full state participation is important in an effort to collect the most accurate and clear data available, Jones said.
According to the NAIC, insurers were required to produce data by July 15. An analysis of the data will be released in early 2027.
Equally important, Jones said, is that the NAIC makes the data itself public so that consumers and researchers can independently understand what it reveals.
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