Congress considers action to address climate insurance crisis
By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor
Five hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. last year causing half a trillion dollars in damages and exacerbating a property insurance crisis.
Some 1.9 million policies were not renewed in 2024, as insurers shed customers with properties considered high risk of damage from climate-related calamities. Policies that were renewed came with an average of an 11% increase.
Congress has taken note. According to a report at Grist.org, a Democratic analyst on the Joint Economic Committee said: “The model of insurance as it stands right now isn’t working.”
The committee has offered recommendations on how Congress could address this crisis such as a program to better understand the impact of wildfires on insurance coverage. Another proposal would provide homeowners with a tax credit covering 25% of disaster mitigation improvements.
The federal government could become a re-insurer that backstops the climate-stressed insurance industry, according to one proposal. These initiatives have been sponsored solely by Democrats and have not yet generated bipartisan support, though.