Climate Center

Senate committee investigating Florida’s state-backed home insurance company as private insurers flee

An aerial picture taken on September 30, 2022 shows the only access to the Matlacha neighborhood destroyed in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida.

(Outlet: CNN Business) The US Senate Budget Committee is launching an investigation into whether Florida’s state-backed home and property insurance company has enough money in the bank to withstand future disasters, as scientists warn warming oceans and sea level rise are making storms more destructive. Fears about a possible federal bailout are not unfounded, Benjamin Keys, a real estate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, told CNN. “They absolutely have a reason to be concerned; the exposure is enormous,” Keys said. “1.3 million of the riskiest policies in the riskiest state, full stop. It’s correlated exposure – if a hurricane hits your house, it hits my house.”…Read More

Gulf Coast residents grapple with home insurers as climate disasters worsen

Debris sits outside of damaged homes after Hurricane Delta made landfall in Holly Beach, La., Oct. 11, 2020.

(Outlet: ABC News) As climate disasters grow more costly, insurers aren’t paying policies. “The insurer’s goal is to collect more in premiums than they pay out in claims,” said Ben Keys, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business professor of real estate and finance. “We’re seeing higher costs of materials, higher costs of labor, and those are growing faster than inflation.”…Read More

Fire prone California homeowners left behind as insurance companies drop coverage

A home burns as the Camp Fire rages through Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 8, 2018.

(Outlet: ABC News) As climate change continues to cause disasters across the country, some people in the most high-risk areas that have already seen massive destruction say they are being left behind. Experts say the situation has been compounded for a number of reasons, including insurers arguing that the risk of doing business there is just too high due to the elevated risk of wildfires and California laws that restrict how the insurance companies can price out their policies.…Read More

Feeling the pinch of high home insurance rates? It’s not getting better anytime soon

In this aerial view, the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Ian is shown on Oct. 2, 2022, in Fort Myers Beach, Fla.

(Outlet: NPR) Many in Florida are finding homeowners’ insurance unaffordable, and it’s only getting worse. Benjamin Keys, a professor of real estate at the University of Pennsylvania, says, “What we have is a real changing landscape in insurance markets, a recognition that risks have increased in recent years. Disasters are occurring with more frequency and severity than previously forecast.”…Read More

As Storm Damages Mount, States Try to Make It Harder to Sue Insurers

A blurry wet crosswalk with debris from storms.

(Outlet: Wall Street Journal) Climate-driven payouts are pressuring insurers, and some states are looking to keep premiums down. “The pendulum is swinging from being less friendly to insurers to putting them into a position of strength,” said Benjamin Keys, a professor of real estate and finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.…Read More