Rising home insurance rates point to climate change

[Cebu_4_2]

Rising home insurance rates point to climate change

January 17, 2012 (http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/17)|By Dean Kuipers





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[URL="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/17/local/la-me-gs-insurance-rates-driven-up-by-global-warming-npr-reports-20120116#mod-blogs"]Comments (http://articles.latimes.com/print/2012/jan/17/local/la-me-gs-insurance-rates-driven-up-by-global-warming-npr-reports-20120116)
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http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2012-01/308451760-16214430.jpg (http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2012-01/308451760-16214430.jpg)


Katlyn Wilkins flies the flag from the remains of a tree amid her flattened… (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

Insurance companies don’t care if you believe in climate change or not: Your premiums are going up anyhow.
NPR reported (http://www.npr.org/2012/01/16/145284465/homeowners-insurance-rates-rising-in-2012) Monday that home insurance premiums are going up across the board in response to the record number of tornadoes, floods, fires, blizzards and other heavy weather that hit the country in 2011.


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The piece features insurance executives at major firms such as Allstate and State Farm saying they are raising rates as much as 10%.
The president of the Insurance Information Institute, a New York-based industry association, says the weather caused about $35 billion of insured damages last year in the U.S. in events that caused a total of $70 billion in economic losses.
Climate change is not mentioned in the piece, but scientists who have been studying the climate and atmospheric conditions for decades say global warming may be contributing to more severe drought, bigger storms and increased precipitation.
The insurance execs interviewed allude to this by noting that in the past certain areas of the U.S. were targeted for higher rates because of earthquakes or frequent hurricanes or flooding. Now? There are so many disasters year upon year that the whole country is being reassessed for risk.

[iOWNme]

I get it. When insurance (Limited Liability) companies collect your fees for DECADES and never pay out a penny to most customers, that is good for them. But when they have to start paying out more claims than their 'business model' can handle, they must raise their rates.

Shouldnt they have a ton of money saved up for claims from their customers who have paid into it for decades?

I know how this works first hand. I used to work in the flood business. I literally saw 90 year old couples who had lived in the same home for 50+ years, have their claims denied when their dishwasher broke in the middle of the night and flooded their home. I stood their and listened to the Insurance Agent tell them all of the reasons why they couldnt cover it, and theold people would just sit back and swallow it.

[ximmy]

Mine is being re-evaluated for a rise... I must understand... those multi-million dollar end of year bonuses don't come cheap...

[Cebu_4_2]

Plain old liability here runs $690.00 for 6 months last check. Definitely not an elaborate house or furnishings plus the title is lost in space... why should I cover their shit til we get it straightened out?