Home Insurance Sees Rumblings Of Big Rate Hikes

This has been a rough year for homeowners. An ice storm in the Plains states left millions with burst water pipes and without power.

California is dealing with a drought that will only create more tinder for its already epic wildfires. Hurricane Ida set a new record for hurricanes by cutting a swath inland from Louisiana to New York City, drowning people in their basements.

These are not isolated events. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that 18 weather disaster events costing at least $1 billion each have hit the U.S. this year.

Now the curtain rises on the second act. Insurers are predicting that, because of these disasters and the ongoing curse of Covid, the losses they currently face will turn into insurance premium increases for homeowners next year and into the future.

‘A perfect storm is brewing in the property-casualty market,’ says Jeffrey Brewer, who represents the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), a trade group for insurers.