"Without insurance, it’s impossible to get a mortgage; without a mortgage, most Americans can’t buy a home."

"The insurance crisis spreading across the United States arrived at Richard D. Zimmel’s door last week in the form of a letter.

Mr. Zimmel, who lives in the increasingly fire-prone hills outside Silver City, N.M., had done everything right. He trimmed the trees away from his house, and covered his yard in gravel to stop flames rushing in from the forest near his property. In case that buffer zone failed, he sheathed his house in fire-resistant stucco, and topped it with a noncombustible steel roof.

None of it mattered. His insurance company, Homesite Insurance, dumped him. “Property is located in a brushfire or wildfire area that no longer meets Homesite’s minimum standard for wildfire risk,” the letter read. (Homesite did not respond to a request for comment.)

Mr. Zimmel has company. Since 2018, more than 1.9 million home insurance contracts nationwide have been dropped — “nonrenewed,” in the parlance of the industry. In more than 200 counties, the nonrenewal rate has tripled or more, according to the findings of a congressional investigation released Wednesday."

Christopher Flavelle reports for the New York Times Decenber 18, 2024, with data analysis and graphics by Mira Rojanasakul, and photography and video by Paul Ratje. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"See Where Home Insurance Policies Were Dropped in Your State" (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/12/18/climate/insurance-nonrene... [3]