"WILMINGTON, North Carolina - After major providers quit California, Florida, and Louisiana, insurers are starting to pull back in other U.S. states, leaving homeowners struggling to find affordable cover for the risk of being hit by floods, wildfires or hurricanes.

Insurers are retreating from markets in hurricane-prone North Carolina and western states like Oregon, Colorado, and Arizona that have struggled with increasingly frequent and destructive wildfires in recent years.

Insurance firm Nationwide last year did not renew around 10,000 policies in parts of North Carolina due in part to risks posed by climate change and hurricanes.

"Insurance companies are having to make big payouts because of all these storms," said Kemp Burdette of Cape Fear River Watch, an advocacy group in Wilmington that has raised concerns about development in climate-risky areas."

David Sherfinski reports for Thomson Reuters Foundation May 2, 2024. [2]