Homeowners insurance

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.

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

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.