Insurance

Between the estimated damages in Los Angeles and rising home insurance prices, policyholders are left wondering how the market will fare in 2025.

As homeowners insurance becomes expensive and hard to find, mortgage loan officers should work closely with insurance agents, said Travis Hodges of Viu by Hub.

Ice storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes occur more frequently than hurricanes and earthquakes and those insurance claims can stack substantially.

Southeast homeowners affected by the storms last fall submitted a combined over 78,500 flood insurance claims to the National Flood Insurance Program.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said insurance companies and banks are already pulling out of disaster-prone areas, which could pose problems.

The FEMA-operated program has over 4.7 million policies in force, and lawmakers have kept it intact via dozens of short-term extensions since 2017.

The nation's largest homeowners insurance providers imposed rate hikes in double-digit percentages last year, led by Farmers' 53.5% increase in Maryland.

The insurance market going into the Jan. 7 catastrophe already had been hit with non-renewals and cancellations -- and an overburdened state-supported insurance plan. A Morningstar analyst said the state insurance commissioner's reform strategy could have turned it around but now faces new obstacles.

When residents can finally return to see what's left of their homes, filing a claim and understanding the process could be challenging for many.

Financial profiles of borrowers in the coastal areas where insurance coverage is required vary significantly from at-risk homeowners inland, CFPB's analysis found.

Californians have paid relatively less for coverage than homeowners in the storm-stricken Midwest and Southeast regions, according to Intercontinental Exchange.

The National Flood Insurance Program has been kept alive with short-term authorizations since 2017. Flood risk data and increased use could strengthen it.

The California FAIR Plan Association, already vulnerable financially, will likely need an assessment of insurers or policyholders as a rescue measure, according to experts.

Verisk and Moody's are the first two modeling companies to submit their models to the California Department of Insurance. A Verisk executive explained the functioning of their model and what insurers' options are.

A trio of blazes in SoCal have destroyed over 2,000 homes and structures in neighborhoods with average property values well above the national average.

Fifteen percent of residences had three or more structures, which can go undetected by insurers even when they identify a secondary structure.

American Forestry, a non-profit conservation group, partners with Travelers to promote proactive fire prevention methods for homeowners.

The average surplus premium to protect property this year was roughly $46,000 in the wealthy enclave and the situation is only likely to worsen as climate change ups the odds of destructive wildfires.

Homeowners in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy have already seen growth in their property values lag behind the national median.

As part of its opposition to a proposed rate increase by State Farm, Consumer Watchdog criticizes a reinsurance deal as more expensive than paying wildfire claims.