(NewsNation) — Wildfires like the ones burning in Los Angeles right now as well as hurricanes and other natural disasters are creating an insurance crisis that could make parts of the United States uninsurable altogether.
NewsNation local affiliate WMBD reports that State Farm stopped accepting new fire insurance applications in California back in May 2023. Then, in March 2024, it said it was not going to renew 72,000 policies in California on a rolling basis.
This decision, which State Farm said was driven by inflation, increasing frequency of natural disasters, and challenges in the reinsurance market, caused the company a lot of backlash this year amid the LA fires.
What we know about how the LA wildfires started
However, this is a trend that’s been seen in the insurance industry for years now.
Residents of states like California, Texas, Louisiana and Florida, which saw two major hurricanes in the span of 13 days last fall have had a harder time getting insurance. Companies are either cutting back coverage or leaving the states altogether.
Seven of the 12 biggest home insurers limited their coverage in the state of California. As of two years ago, in the state of Louisiana, at least 12% of homeowners across the state didn’t have any insurance at all. And in Florida, homeowners insurance costs have increased by 102% in the last three years, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
NewsNation talked to people living in the St. Petersburg area who are still fighting with some insurance companies to get the money they need to rebuild after hurricanes.
“If you are willing to live on the ocean in South Florida, you need to understand you are a great risk of loss, and you need to be able and willing to pay for insurance to cover that,” Mark Friedlander, spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, said in an interview with NewsNation. “If you live in a high-risk area in California that is prone to wildfires, be prepared to, number one, pay higher than average premiums, and number two, be prepared for a potential catastrophic loss.”
In 2024, there were 27 individual weather and climate disasters which combined cost at least $1 billion in damages. That makes it the fourth-costliest year on record when it comes to weather and climate disasters.
The New York Times found that in 2023, insurers lost money on homeowners coverage in 18 states. Five years ago, it was 12.
