The Gulf Coast is a hotbed for extreme weather-related rising homeowners insurance costs, and the fourth-biggest city in the United States is experiencing the worst of it.
What's happening?
Southeast Houston is among the most expensive places in the U.S. to buy coverage, with homeowners paying $3,740 per year — three times the national average and 60% more than the state average — for fire, hazard, and flood insurance, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Florida and Louisiana are the states home to the most expensive homeowners insurance in the nation, and Texas is third.
The report used homeowner-reported insurance costs and Federal Emergency Management Agency climate hazard risk scores. The map showed that the effects carry up the East Coast to North Carolina; reach into the central part of the country to Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, as well as parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota; and blanket much of California.
Why is this important?
The Chronicle attributed the problem to rising sea levels and "frequent, disastrous flooding." It noted inland Texans are at risk from "extreme temperatures and increased storm activity." Texas is known for hurricanes and heat, but hail and flooding are also issues. High costs of reinsurance, construction, and repair — plus inflation — are to blame as well.
Urban areas are worse off because the cost of living is already high, and there are more people and buildings in danger.
"But the indiscriminate effect of catastrophic climate events has leveled out some of those differences, leaving many in suburban and rural Texas with insurance bills rivaling those in city centers — but without the urban incomes to offset them," the Chronicle stated.
"Texas communities in areas at higher risk of climate hazard typically paid up to $672 more for home insurance than those elsewhere in the state last year."
This means people are increasingly going without coverage, with one in six Lone Star State homeowners — or 1.1 million households — doing so in 2023.
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What's being done about rising insurance rates?
Rising rates are a nationwide problem, and when insurance companies don't jack up their prices, they are dropping coverage and refusing to pay claims. Some states are trying to protect homeowners by regulating the industry, while others are backing away.
This has created a crisis in the Sunshine State and elsewhere, and there doesn't seem to be a solution on the horizon.
In the long run, the way to address the issue is to minimize the risk of climate-driven extreme weather events. Since the rapidly rising global temperature is caused by our burning of dirty energy sources, turning to clean, renewable power from the sun and wind can help.
Small changes, such as using LEDs instead of traditional light bulbs and washing clothes in cold water, add up — and you can put the money you save on bills toward taking bigger steps, such as installing an induction stove or a heat pump.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
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