Echo Fine Properties CEO Jeff Lichtenstein speaks with FOX News Digital about the property insurance landscape amid ‘self-inflicted’ policy choices and natural disasters.
Homeowners insurance premiums have been soaring in the U.S. for years, but residents of some coastal states could see rates surge even higher due to expectations that 2024 will be an active year for hurricanes.
Forecasting service WeatherBell Anayltics is predicting a “hurricane season from hell” this year, estimating that five to eight hurricanes will hit the U.S., with three to five expected to be “major” disaster events.
Observers assess the damage after a home partially toppled onto the beach as Hurricane Nicole came ashore on Nov. 10, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Florida is the most hurricane-prone state in the U.S. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Insurance comparison website Insurify pointed to that predication in a recent report and added its own data indicating how home insurance premiums could be impacted in hurricane-prone states.
“If there’s a surge in the number and intensity of hurricanes, insurance companies would face higher payouts for property damage, business interruption, and other related claims,” said Jacob Gee, an insurance agent, quality assurance specialist, and knowledge facilitator with Insurify. “This would likely lead insurers to reassess their risk models and adjust insurance rates accordingly.”
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Insurify said that five of the 10 most expensive states for home insurance — Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama — are most vulnerable to being hit by a hurricane this season, and they took that into consideration when figuring projected rate changes.
A vacation rental home sits overturned in Steinhatchee, Florida, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023 after Hurricane Idalia passed through the area. Florida homeowners’ insurance premiums are expected to climb even higher after this year’s hurricane season. (Thomas Simonetti for The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The other states that could find themselves in the path of a hurricane are South Carolina, Georgia, New York, North Carolina and Virginia.
Residents of Florida, the most hurricane-prone state in the nation, paid an average of $10,996 in annual homeowners’ insurance premiums last year, and Insurify projects their rates will jump by 7% to an average of $11,759 by the end of 2024.
The analysis determined that Louisiana and South Carolina could see double-digit homeowners’ insurance rate increases by year’s end.
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Louisiana’s average rate was $6,354, and Insurify sees that average premium climbing by as much as 23% to $7,809. South Carolina’s rates could go from an average of $3,082 last year to $3,410, an increase of 11%.
Mississippi has the third-highest rates of the hurricane-prone states with an average premium of $4,312 in 2023, and that is expected to rise to $4,482 by the end of the year.
A storm-damaged gas station is reflected in a puddle after Hurricane Idalia crossed the state on Aug. 30, 2023 in Perry, Florida. The storm made landfall at Keaton Beach, Florida, as a category 3 hurricane. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Texas, which had an average home insurance cost of $4,456 in 2023, is actually expected to see rates tick down a bit to $4,437, according to the data.
However, whether a state is hit by a hurricane or not, home insurance rates across the U.S. are expected to continue their upward climb this year.
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Insurify recently reported separately that the average cost of home insurance for a $300,000 property in the U.S. surged 12% in 2023 to roughly $1,770 per year, and predicts that the cost of home insurance will keep growing.
Average premiums in the U.S. are likely to hit a record high of $2,552 by the end of 2024, marking a staggering 44% increase from the previous year.
FOX Business’ Megan Henney contributed to this report.
