The world’s changing climate and increasing severe weather is causing property insurance costs to climb. That’s according to Jeremy Porter, a Louisville native and climate scientist with the First Street Foundation in New York City.
He said some of these new conditions created by a changing climate are causing some insurers to drop people who live in these areas where severe weather is happening more often.
“What we’re seeing are insurer initiated non-renewals, people having to move onto the state mandated insurer of last resort plans. Their insurance premiums going up two or three times.”
Kentucky’s recent deadly tornadoes and flooding are an example of the increase in severe weather. The frequency of these storms has some insurers worried, and they are taking actions that could upset policy holders.
Porter said since flood events like in 2022 weren’t common, many people didn’t know they needed flood insurance.
“So, they would have gone from what was called a preferred risk policy prior to the adjustment in pricing, which would only be about $400 a year, to something that is now on the order of $2,000 or $3,000 a year so there is this huge increase in homeownership and beyond that there is this lack of awareness oftentimes in regard to the unknown flood risk.”
Porter said this need for the high-cost flood insurance could also cause the property value to decrease.
Hear more with climate scientist Jeremy Porter later this week on Eastern Standard on WEKU.
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