US (AMERICANS FOR FINANCIAL REFORM) : The INSURANCE INDUSTRY is shifting the costs of the climate crisis to consumers and families, and are unprepared despite having known about climate change for decades.

 

From now until June, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is collecting insurance information data from across the country about premiums, nonrenewal rates, claims, and more. This is good, and it should be happening. The problem is that then state insurance commissioners get pressured by the industry to keep this vital information hidden from the public. This data is too important to hide. State insurance commissioners are supposed to be the public’s line of accountability over the insurance industry. We need them to resist the industry’s pressure to keep us in the dark. Demand your insurance commissioner make this data public so people can see the real story on profits, payouts, rate hikes, etc. and see what insurance companies are really up to. Sign and send a direct message to your insurance commissioner now. SIGN & SEND Last year Americans for Financial Reform worked with a coalition of partner organizations and champions to collect a lot of this data and make it public. Unfortunately, today the data is incomplete. We only have a snapshot of the insurance crisis from 2018 to 2023. Still, even partial information allowed us to find out how households across the United States face a new and unexpected cost from a heavily fossil fuel-driven climate crisis. The data was compiled into this interactive map (pictured above) that allows legislators, regulators and the public to see a bigger picture nationwide. Increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather is wrecking homes and communities, causing skyrocketing home insurance premiums, along with policy nonrenewals and cancellations. The insurance industry is shifting the costs of the climate crisis to consumers and families, and are unprepared despite having known about climate change for decades. Without public intervention to force the industry to answer for their recklessness, the household and community-level impacts could trigger a financial crisis — with rising insurance costs and foreclosures undermining local tax bases, regional financial institutions, and the mortgage market. It’s time to build pressure on state insurance commissioners to hear our demand for data transparency. Sign and send your message now. - Annie Annie Norman (she/her) Associate Director of Campaigns Americans for Financial Reform Support the campaign

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