In short:

  • A $500 annual increase in home insurance premiums correlates with a 20% rise in mortgage delinquencies, based on a study not yet peer-reviewed by New York University researchers.
  • In some counties in Florida, some homeowners report spending over 5% of their income on insurance, said a researcher.
  • Higher reinsurance costs, severe weather and climate-driven disasters have caused insurance companies to raise premiums, with some homeowners opting to pay off mortgages early or forego insurance entirely.
  • In fact, a report published last August noted that last year, 30% of losses from natural disasters went uninsured.

Key quote:

“This is how many people across the country are beginning to directly experience how climate change is changing our world and the cost it’s going to have.”

— Moira Birss, research fellow at the Climate and Community Institute.