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Home insurance rates continue to surge, media and industry blame ‘climate change’ catastrophes

By Jack Hellner

And, stop pretending that there is evidence that humans and our use of natural resources is causing an existential threat to the climate and that politicians and bureaucrats can control temperatures, sea levels, and storm activity if we give up our quality of life. They can’t. They can’t control inflation, the border, and terrorists. Why would anyone believe they can control temperatures?

Home insurance rates are continuing to skyrocket, to the point that many people no longer have good options on affordable coverage.

And the cause? Well the media and the industry say it’s climate change. From NPR:

‘Everything is rising at a scary rate’: Why car and home insurance costs are surging

Last year, there were around two dozen severe storms in the U.S. with billion-dollar price tags, spreading lightning, hail and damaging winds through many parts of the country.

‘While a lot of these storms don't make national headlines, they do tend to be very costly at the local level,’ says Tim Zawacki, principal research analyst for insurance at S&P Global Market Intelligence. ‘And the breadth of where these storms are occurring is something that I think the industry is quite concerned about.’

From Marketplace:

Rising insurance costs are making homeownership even more expensive

The main reason, of course, is climate change, which has increased the frequency and severity of droughts, wildfires and extreme weather in many areas.

The public is constantly told that “climate change” caused by our use of natural resources is the problem. Talk about a boogeyman! But that is a clear lie. Inflation is the major problem, not storms.

If you look at this chart of prices to build a house, the prices were gradually rising for twenty years from 2000 to 2020, and then they shot up rapidly in 2021 and 2022 as inflation surged.

Prices continue to rise rapidly.

In 2021, the cost to build a new home rose 20%, an “unparalleled” rate:

The average cost for materials to build a single-family home jumped 42% from 2018 to 2021, adding thousands of dollars to the price of a new home, according to the report. The median sales price of a new home in April reached a record $450,600, a 20% hike from a year earlier, Commerce Department data shows.

The cost to repair homes has continued to rise rapidly as inflation rose after Joe Biden took office:

According to the Verisk Remodel Index, the cost of home repairs and remodeling in the third quarter of 2023 jumped by 6.6% nationally compared to a year earlier.

We can also look at how insured damages have remained relatively stable over the last ten years, strongly suggesting that climate change and/or storms are not the cause of unaffordable home insurance.

In 2020, insured losses in the United States because of all storms was $67 billion, or less than $200 per person:

Munich Re: Insured 2020 Natural Catastrophe Losses Hit $82 Billion on Hurricanes, Wildfires

U.S. share was higher in 2020 as natural disaster losses accounted for $67 billion of insured losses, compared with $26 billion a year ago.

That clearly isn’t causing major price increases.

In 2023, the insured damages worldwide at $95 billion were below the five-year average of $105 billion, and barely above the ten-year average of $90 billion:

Last year’s insured losses of US $95 billion are close to the five-year average of US $105 billion, above the 10-year average of US $90 billion, but lower than the 2022 price tag of $125 billion, said Munich Re in its report on the nat cats of 2023.

Storm losses are clearly not the cause of insurance rates rising rapidly.

Inflation stayed relatively low and constant after Ronald Reagan squeezed it out over 40 years ago. It remained low throughout President Trump’s term despite COVID. Biden inherited a rapidly growing economy and inflation constantly below 2%, a very manageable level for Americans.

And what did Biden do as soon as he took office? He set out to destroy reasonably priced energy. He opened the borders which put a massive strain on housing and other necessities. He issued regulations as fast as he could, and still does.

And he hands out borrowed money like it’s candy as he tries to buy votes. There is absolutely no excuse for continuing to borrow two trillion each year in a growing economy.

His green energy kickbacks and regulations cause massive price increases, which compound the problem with home prices and insurance rates.

Biden and other Democrats claim they care about ordinary Americans and inflation, but their policies show the exact opposite.

So if people want to have a shot to improve their purchasing power by lowering costs, they need to elect Trump and drill, drill, drill to show OPEC and oil traders that America will be a major competitor again.

And, stop pretending that there is evidence that humans and our use of natural resources is causing an existential threat to the climate and that politicians and bureaucrats can control temperatures, sea levels, and storm activity if we give up our quality of life. They can’t. They can’t control inflation, the border, and terrorists. Why would anyone believe they can control temperatures?

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/05/home_insurance_rates_continue_to_surge_media_and_industry_blame_climate_change_catastrophes.html