Voters Face Rising Home Insurance Costs and Prefer Resources for Public Over Private Insurance
Last week, the onset of historic wildfires in the Los Angeles area destroyed over 10,000 homes. With the current level of devastation and another Santa Ana wind event beginning Monday, this is set to be the most expensive fire in U.S. history.
The fires seem poised to worsen the existing home insurance crisis in Southern California, where residents have faced rising home insurance costs and gaps in coverage as the risk of wildfire — exacerbated by climate change — continues to grow. As insurers have pulled out of communities, nonrenewal rates have doubled or tripled in regions across the United States that are especially vulnerable to climate disasters, like South Florida or coastal North Carolina.
In a new poll, Data for Progress surveyed likely voters about their experiences with home insurance and their approval of policies that could help residents in at-risk communities.
Among likely voters, 55% say that their home or rental insurance premiums have gone up in the last five years, while only 5% say that their insurance costs decreased. Eight percent say that they are not insured.
When asked whether they believe their state government should be more or less involved in regulating home insurance companies, a plurality (37%) say that their state government should be more involved, while 20% say it should be less involved.
Voters also say that they trust state and local governments slightly more than they trust private insurance companies or the federal government to determine the climate risk of homes and rentals — that is, the relative risk of damage or other negative impacts that a property may face due to climate change and extreme weather events.
When asked to select whether they would prefer funding public insurance companies that will not drop consumers’ policies or enticing private insurance companies to reenter the market by allowing them to charge higher premiums, a strong majority (67%) choose the former. This includes majorities of Democrats (72%), Independents (69%), and Republicans (62%).
Additionally, voters across partisanship support a variety of measures that would help residents obtain coverage for their property that would allow them to better withstand the cost of climate disasters. These include:
Funding disaster prevention and extreme weather resilience efforts at the community level (74% support);
Creating a policy that would pay some of the costs of home insurance for low- and moderate-income households (71% support);
Creating a national insurance fund to cover damages from extreme weather events (68% support); and
Providing home insurance coverage to Americans directly from the federal government (67% support).
Voters also show strong support for roof fortification programs, which offer grants to encourage customers to upgrade their roofs to protect against severe weather, like hailstorms. This support includes 85% of Democrats, 76% of Independents, and 75% of Republicans.
In the coming years, homeowners and renters insurance will likely get more expensive and harder to come by as private insurers raise premiums or leave certain markets in response to climate change elevating the risk of wildfire, hurricanes, shoreline erosion, and other environmental impacts. Public programs can help fill the gap left by the private sector, while ensuring people can recover from such disasters.