In 2024, the Federal Insurance Office, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury, worked with state insurance commissioners on a “data call.” The initiative gathered zip code level data from across the country on how climate change is affecting property insurance, covering claim frequency, claim severity, loss ratio, premium costs, nonrenewal rates, and cancellation rates from 2018 through 2022. 

This is important because most major insurance companies are insuring fossil fuel projects and investing in fossil fuel companies -- even as they stop insuring customers in climate-vulnerable states and raise rates on everyone else because of the climate crisis caused by fossil fuels.

The data collection was not without controversy: At least seven states -- Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Indiana, Montana and North Dakota -- refused to participate, meaning insurance companies headquartered in those states did not report. However, national insurers and insurers in other states did report, for a total of 246 million policies or 80% of homeowners policies written during the study period.

But there was one problem: Neither the Federal Insurance Office nor the National Association of Insurance Commissioners would make the data public. 

Pressuring the FIO

To address this, Green America partnered with Consumer Federation of America and 18 other groups on a letter urging the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to release the data. Another letter signed by 37 organizations urged the Federal Insurance Office to do the same. 

When our letters did not produce results, advocacy groups launched a grassroots campaign seeking signatures on a petition asking the Federal Insurance Office to make the data it had gathered public. A total of 43,622 people signed the petition in a campaign organized by Consumer Reports, Americans for Financial Reform, Green America, and Public Citizen. 

“Our members across the country are paying ever higher rates for property insurance — and that’s when they can even get insurance if they live in a climate-vulnerable area,” said Cathy Becker, responsible finance campaign director at Green America. “Yet instead of addressing the climate crisis behind these increased costs, big insurance companies are insuring and investing in its chief cause — the burning of fossil fuels. The least the Federal Insurance Office could do is release the data it has gathered about insurance company practices, so we can hold them accountable.” 

On January 16, our actions produced results: The Federal Insurance Office finally released a report, "Analyses of U.S. Homeowners Insurance Markets, 2018-2022: Climate-Related Risks and Other Factors," along with a treasure trove of zip-code level raw data. 

It was "the most comprehensive look yet at the effect of climate change on the American home insurance market," according to The New York Times. 

This would not have happened without the quick action of almost 5,400 Green Americans, who had just one day after the holiday break to sign our petition. Thank you to each one of you who took action! 

What’s in the report? 

Key findings of the Federal Insurance Office report include: 

• U.S. homeowners faced increasing costs for insurance between 2018 and 2022. Nationally, the cost of homeowners insurance increased 8.7% faster than inflation, but customers in the most climate-stressed areas saw their premiums rise 14.7% faster than inflation.  

• The cost of insurance was much greater in areas with higher expected losses to buildings than in areas with lower expected losses. Consumers in zip codes with the highest losses paid an average of $2,321 for homeowners insurance between 2018 and 2022 – 82% more than in zip codes with the lowest expected losses.  

• Insurers’ costs also were higher in areas with the highest expected losses from climate-related perils. Claims averaged $24,000 in high-risk areas compared to $19,000 in low-risk areas. Insurers paid out more in claims than they took in premiums in high-risk areas, leading them to raise rates and not renew policies. 

• Policy nonrenewal rates were higher in areas with the highest expected losses from climate-related perils. Nonrenewal rates were 80% higher for consumers in the highest-risk zip codes compared to the lowest risk.  

• Different climate-related perils dominated different regions, resulting in diverse claims and loss patterns. Areas impacted by severe convective storms – thunderstorms, tornadoes, hailstorms – saw a higher number of claims, while regions impacted by wildfires saw higher dollar-value claims. Hurricanes accounted for more losses to buildings than other perils, resulting in the most expensive premiums and highest nonrenewal rates.  

• The zip codes within each of the seven regions with the highest losses also had the highest cost of insurance for consumers, highest losses to insurers, and highest nonrenewal rates. The regions include Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northen Great Plains, Southern Great Plains, Northwest, and Southwest. 

The report concluded by recommending the Federal Insurance Office and National Association of Insurance Commissioners collaborate on an annual data gathering and report, expand the data to include additional market segments such as multi-family residential housing, make the data available to policymakers and researchers, and use the data to improve public awareness of how climate risks affect insurance and the benefits of investing in property resilience.  

What can you do? 

The Federal Insurance Office did not gather any data on insurance company investments, nor did the report discuss how most major insurance companies insure fossil fuel projects and invest in fossil fuel companies. Please continue to follow Green America and allies such as Insure Our Future for information and actions you can take.   

Meanwhile, if you are insured by one the large national insurance companies such as Liberty Mutual, State Farm, or GEICO that insures fossil fuel projects and invests in fossil fuel companies, you can use our Climate Smart Insurance Directory to find a local or regional insurance company in your state. We show you how to shop for insurance – some people who made the switch have saved hundreds of dollars!