Beyond Soaring Insurance Costs, Homeowners Are Facing a New Threat
Rising homeowners insurance premiums have become a major financial burden for families across the country. But new data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) reveals that cost may be only part of the problem.
A first-of-its-kind NAIC analysis, covering 2018 through 2024, found that insurer-initiated non-renewals have surged across every major U.S. region. In other words, homeowners aren’t just paying more for coverage, they’re increasingly at risk of losing it altogether.
Non-Renewals Are Rising Nationwide
The NAIC analyzed data from 715 insurance carriers and found that company-initiated non-renewal rates increased between 96% and 216% across the four major regions during the seven years.
The West saw the steepest increase, with non-renewals per 1,000 policies more than tripling. That’s significant when you consider that roughly 103 million homeowners insurance policies were active nationwide in 2024. Even a relatively small shift in non-renewal rates can affect millions of homeowners.
And a history of paying premiums on time doesn’t necessarily protect a homeowner from a non-renewal. Insurers may decide that a property no longer fits their risk profile based on location, weather exposure, claims trends, and other factors.
Climate Risk Is Changing the Insurance Market
One of the biggest forces behind the shift is the growing frequency and cost of severe weather. Wildfires, hurricanes, severe storms, and other climate-related disasters are producing larger losses for insurers. As a result, carriers are reassessing which properties they’re willing to insure and at what price.
Federal Insurance Office (FIO) data found that homeowners in the highest-risk ZIP codes faced non-renewal rates roughly 80% higher than those in the lowest-risk areas (FIO is a federal-level office within the U.S. Department of the Treasury). Those homeowners also paid substantially more for coverage.
The trend creates a difficult cycle: greater risk leads to more expensive claims, which can lead to higher premiums, tighter underwriting, and fewer insurers willing to cover certain properties.
Premiums Are Rising, Too
The NAIC found inflation-adjusted homeowners insurance premiums increased in every major region during the period studied:
- Northeast: 18.3%, or about 2.4% annually
- Midwest: 24.7%, or about 3.3% annually
- Southeast: 26.5%, or about 3.6% annually
- West: 43.3%, or about 5.3% annually
But homeowners aren’t experiencing the crisis equally. Insurance remains highly local, with premiums and availability influenced by everything from weather exposure and construction costs to claims history and the number of insurers competing in a market.
That makes shopping the market more important than ever.
What Homeowners Can Do
If you receive a non-renewal notice or see your premiums climbing sharply, don’t assume your current insurer is your only option. Working with an independent insurance professional can give you access to multiple carriers and help you compare coverage, not just price.
That’s where DRO can help.
Through DRO’s network of insurers, homeowners can explore coverage options from multiple carriers to find a policy that fits their property, needs, and budget. Instead of relying on a single insurance company, DRO helps homeowners shop the broader market for competitive, affordable coverage.
And in a market where insurance availability can change quickly, having more options matters.
Dayton Ritz + Osborne Insurance proudly serves the Hamptons area. Call today at 631-324-0420 or contact us online.