More than 25% of Florida homeowners worry their carrier will pull coverage
Around 13% of California homeowners worry about losing coverage, according to real estate site Redfin.
Over 70% of Florida homeowners said they live in an area that has seen insurance costs increase or coverage changes, such as non-renewal notices, during the past year, according to a survey commissioned by Redfin. Around 27% of Florida respondents also said they are or have been concerned their carrier will stop offering them home insurance.
The survey, which queried nearly 3,000 U.S. homeowners and renters, found similar trepidation on the other side of the country, as 51% of California homeowners said they are in an area experiencing insurance cost increases or coverage changes. More than 13% of Californians are worried their carrier will stop offering coverage.
In comparison, just 8.9% of homeowners nationwide fear they’ll lose coverage, while 45% of U.S. homeowners said they’ve seen insurance costs increase or changes to coverage during the past year, Redfin reported. Slightly more than a quarter of homeowners nationwide said they didn’t see a change in cost or coverage during the past year.
Among Florida homeowners impacted by rising home insurance costs or changes in coverage, 12% reported being dropped by their carrier. In California, nearly 11% of homeowners that faced rising costs or other coverage changes said their carrier stopped offering coverage.
Around half (46%) of those homeowners that lost coverage said they were able to find a new carrier, but 44.5% said that new policy came with a significantly higher premium.
‘Should I stay or should I go?’
Regardless of state, homeowners that did lose coverage are evenly split on if relocating is the answer to their insurance woes. About one-third (33.2%) said they did move or are planning to move to an area where coverage is more accessible and 30% said they plan to say in their home despite having little or no coverage, Redfin reported.
Looking more broadly, around 12% of Florida homeowners facing rising premiums said they are planning to move in the next year to escape high insurance costs. In California, 13.1% of homeowners said they are planning to move in the coming year due to climate risk and natural disasters, a sentiment shared by 8.8% of homeowners nationwide. Although some homeowners are moving away from disaster prone areas, Redfin reported that these regions are still seeing populations grow.
“Homeowners living in areas where insurance premiums are surging are at risk of seeing their properties gain less value than homeowners in areas with stable premiums — and in some cases, they may even lose money,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a release. “Homes with low disaster risk and low insurance costs will likely become increasingly popular, and thus more valuable, as the dangers of climate change intensify.”
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