In the months preceding the outbreak of the infernos now raging through Los Angeles County, home insurance carriers began withdrawing new coverage in response to the rising threat from wildfires, while also increasing premium amounts for existing customers.
Now, other residents across the U.S. are looking to see whether insurers in their areas have been making similar changes.
In fact, the U.S. Senate recently covered this exact issue. Last month, the Senate Budget Committee released a report showing the states and counties that have seen the greatest changes to their insurance profiles, as measured by number of canceled policies and extent of premium increases.
Not surprisingly, much of California, as well as hurricane-prone regions in Florida and Louisiana, topped the list. Oklahoma, where homeowners have suffered extensive wind and hail damage related to the rising intensity of tornadoes, also featured prominently, alongside parts of southern New England, the Carolinas, New Mexico, the northern Rockies and Hawaii.
The Senate report is based on responses from 23 different carriers, covering 2018 through 2023. Those companies account for approximately 65% of the homeowners insurance market nationwide.
The lack of complete response may help explain an anomaly in the report: Los Angeles County, where the fires have been raging since Jan. 7, did not feature among the areas experiencing the greatest insurance distress.
Erica Handloff, a lead staffer behind the report, told NBC News the low response rate may help explain that gap. It may also have been affected by respondents not including condo and co-op policies.
In fact, the California counties most deeply affected according to the Senate dataset were in northern and inland parts of the state — suggesting the fate that has befallen Southern California could someday be replicated elsewhere in the state.
Below is a searchable database of nonrenewal rates by county.
