State Regulators Dive Deep into Property Insurance Amid Climate Concerns
In an unprecedented move, state insurance regulators are embarking on a comprehensive analysis of the U.S. property-insurance market. The focus is to understand the impact of climate change on the availability and pricing of insurance coverage.
Insurance firms are required to submit internal records detailing claims and losses from natural disasters like wildfires and storms. This data collection, managed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), aims to address the escalating property insurance crisis.
“We literally don’t have a full and comprehensive system for monitoring insurance market data,” stated Jordan Haedtler of Climate Cabinet, highlighting the importance of this initiative. According to him, the data’s implications could be “profound.”
Haedtler further noted that there is significant interest across various insurance departments, regardless of ideological differences, in engaging with this data collection effort.
This initiative comes as regulators face increasing complaints about rising insurance costs and limited availability, issues exacerbated by climate change. The decentralized nature of the U.S. insurance system, with minimal federal oversight, has created data gaps that this effort seeks to fill.
Michael Yaworsky, Florida Insurance Commissioner and leader of the NAIC data collection, emphasized that the gathered information will provide “more information, tools, and resources” for enhancing resilience and preparation for severe weather events.
The ability of insurance departments to gather detailed market data varies, said former California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. He noted that officials in some conservative states are hesitant to investigate climate change-related phenomena.
Jones pointed out the lack of ZIP-code-level data on climate change’s effects on the insurance market as “a big and ongoing problem.” The new data collection aims to deepen regulators’ understanding and enable the NAIC to detect national trends.
This initiative builds upon a smaller 2024 effort with the Treasury Department, now including more states and types of homeowners’ insurance like rentals, mobile homes, and condos. The expanded data call is expected to cover “roughly 98 percent of the market in most states,” according to NAIC President Scott White.
Will Insurer Data Be Public?
Yaworsky remarked that a “national, standardized” data collection will be beneficial for regulators. The intention is to potentially make this an annual exercise.
Michael DeLong of the Consumer Federation of America noted that consumer advocates pushed for an expanded data collection, including coverage for manufactured homes, rentals, and condos. He described the latest effort as “greatly expanded” from 2024.
Data insights can reveal vulnerabilities in the insurance market, said Brad Gerling from the Missouri Department of Insurance. After a 2025 tornado in St. Louis, Missouri regulators discovered high uninsured rates in affected ZIP codes despite limited state data.
Gerling expressed optimism about uncovering new data relationships that have been previously unexplored.
However, the initiative has sparked a debate over data transparency. Consumer and climate groups advocate for maximum transparency, arguing it could lead to better solutions for the insurance crisis without infringing on insurer confidentiality.
NAIC plans to share the data with state insurance offices and release a public report in 2027, though further details remain undecided.
A letter from Public Citizen and 47 other groups urged NAIC to publish the data swiftly to help the public understand the crisis’s scope. Steven Rothstein from Ceres emphasized that “most of this material should be made public.”
Yaworsky acknowledged the challenge of balancing data confidentiality with public transparency. Insurers warned that even anonymized data might expose sensitive business strategies.
Regulators aim to produce a report that safeguards proprietary industry information while providing “clear and accurate data” to the public, Yaworsky stated.
Participation in data sharing is not mandatory for states. Alabama and Tennessee have opted out, and in the 2024 effort, several states provided limited or no data.
In March, participating insurance departments instructed insurers to submit data across 12 categories regarding home insurance from 2018 to 2025.
Original Story at www.eenews.net