SHOT: Home insurance is becoming unaffordable and harder to find for families across America – especially in disaster-prone areas where insurers are abandoning entire communities – with premiums skyrocketing as the majority of Americans already struggling with rising costs now face impossible choices about protecting their homes…
NPR: Nationwide, the cost of home insurance rose about 8% faster than overall inflation between 2018 and 2022, according to a landmark report published by the Treasury Department in January. As losses from disasters mount, insurers are passing the costs on to consumers. “We’ve seen growing prices everywhere,” Kousky says. That’s hitting family budgets that are already stretched thin by rising food and transportation costs. Home insurance is required for most homeowners in the U.S. who have a mortgage. And if you rent, your landlord probably passes along the rising cost of insurance by raising your rent.
CBS: Almost half of property insurance policy holders in the U.S. said their premiums rose over the past year, the highest rate of increases in more than a decade, according to a study this week from data analytics company J.D. Power. Average homeowners insurance costs have risen nearly 70% over the past five years, according to data from ICE Mortgage Technology…Soaring homeowners insurance rates are leading some Americans to switch insurers, or do without coverage altogether — a risky step that can prove financially ruinous and that experts strongly discourage.
CHASER: …all while insurance executives are cashing in on the crisis with obscene compensation packages. Top insurance executives are pocketing tens of millions in compensation even as they claim rising costs force them to jack up premiums and abandon policyholders.
The American Prospect: The U.S. property and casualty (or P&C) insurance industry, which includes home and auto, had a banner year in 2024. Profits hit an all-time high of nearly $167 billion, up 91 percent from 2023 and 330 percent from 2022. The bulk of the industry’s profits come from investment income, though P&C insurers also cleared more than $25 billion in underwriting profit last year.
Gulf Coast News Now: As Florida homeowners grapple with soaring insurance premiums, newly obtained government filings show the CEO of one of the state’s fast-growing insurance companies collected tens of millions of dollars in compensation — igniting outrage among policyholders and consumer advocates alike. According to a 132-page filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Slide Insurance CEO Bruce Lucas paid himself more than $21 million in 2024. His wife, who serves as the company’s chief operating officer, received $16.5 million. Combined with bonuses and stock awards, the couple’s total compensation has exceeded $50 million.
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