US (STOP THE MONEY PIPELINE) : TAKE ACTION, Hold BIG INSURANCE ACCOUNTABLE!

 

Last week, insurance insiders blew the whistle on how the insurance industry is responding to the climate crisis. In a bombshell memo, a group of current and former senior leaders at major insurance companies revealed their industry’s long-term climate strategy: raise prices, drop coverage, and withdraw from entire communities and industries. First, they’ll raise prices, making insurance unaffordable for many, especially low-income and marginalized people. Second, they’ll reduce what policies cover–we’ve already seen this in states like California, Louisiana, and Florida. And finally, they’ll “simply withdraw” from entire communities, leaving people without protection and forced to foot the entire bill after a disaster. Email your state Insurance Commissioner now and tell them: make sure insurance companies aren’t passing the costs of the climate crisis onto the rest of us. The result of the insurance industry’s current practices, the whistleblowers wrote, is that “someone else will have to pay the price.” That “someone else” is the rest of us: individuals and families already struggling to pay the bills. All across the country, we’re hearing the same stories. Community members who can’t find coverage for their homes because they live in a flood zone. Others who filed a claim after a flood, only for their insurer to drop them completely. But here’s the thing: The insurance industry is regulated at the state level, and every state has an insurance commissioner whose job is to keep insurers in line. Commissioners can review and reject rate hikes, investigate companies that drop customers or drag out claims, and require insurers to disclose how they’re handling climate risk. In some states you vote for this person; in others the governor appoints them. Either way, Insurance Commissioners answer to the public. Email your Insurance Commissioner and tell them: Don’t let insurers abandon our communities. The memo’s authors say none of this comes from malice. It’s just how their industry is paid to operate. I believe them, and that’s exactly why we can’t count on insurers to fix this themselves. As the insurance industry invests billions in fossil fuels and passes the costs of the climate crisis onto the rest of us, Insurance Commissioners hear from industry lobbyists all the time. But they rarely hear from the people paying the bills. Let’s change that. Send your message to your insurance commissioner now. In Solidarity - Liv Senghor, Stop the Money Pipeline, New York campaigns manager. PS: Want to read what the insiders wrote in their own words? Full memo here.