Home Insurance Non-Renewals: The Crisis Beyond Rising Premiums

Paying more, and losing coverage too

Most people describe their home insurance bill in simple terms: it has gone up a lot. A Pew Research Center survey of 3,524 U.S. adults, including 1,236 homeowners, found that about 71% of homeowners say their insurance costs have risen over the past few years, and 42% say costs have climbed "a lot." 4 That perception matches the numbers. The Consumer Federation of America found average premiums rose $648, or 24%, to $3,303 a year between 2021 and 2024. 4 Experts point to inflation and climate change as the main drivers, and they warn of consequences for homeownership and the wider economy. 4

Premiums are only part of the problem. A growing number of homeowners are not being offered a renewal at any price. As Insurify puts it, home insurance is moving from unaffordable to unavailable as carriers pull back from high-risk areas. 1

What the data shows

A Treasury report covering 246 million policies found that non-renewal notices rose nearly 30% from 2018 to 2022, to more than 620,000 a year. 2 The pattern follows risk. Non-renewal rates were nearly 80% higher in ZIP codes most exposed to perils such as strong winds and wildfires than in the lowest-risk areas. 2 The Washington Post noted that California, the state most associated with insurers leaving, has company. Florida, Louisiana and North Carolina have also seen climbing non-renewal rates. 2

Insurify's analysis largely agrees on the hotspots. It finds non-renewal rates rising fastest in Florida, Louisiana and Hawaii, where premiums are also increasing quickly, and it identifies Florida as having the highest statewide non-renewal rate. 1 It also adds less expected states to the list. Rhode Island, Montana and Wyoming, which few people consider front-line climate states, are seeing sharp increases. 1 Insurify argues that the full set of hazards is destabilizing insurance markets: hurricanes, wildfires, severe convective storms, hail, extreme precipitation and sea level rise. 1

The Mountain West surprise

The newest figures change the map again. According to NAIC data reported by KUER, about 4.5% of Utah homeowners' policies, nearly 1 in 20, were not renewed in 2025. That is the highest rate in the country and 1.5 percentage points above second-place California. 3 Arizona is just over 2%, Nevada and New Mexico are near that level, and Idaho and Colorado are also above 1%. 3 Dave Jones, director of UC Berkeley's Climate Risk Initiative, says 1% is the point at which officials should start to worry. 3

This may look like it contradicts Insurify's finding that Florida leads the nation. The more likely explanation is that the sources measure different things. Insurify tracks changes from 2018 to 2023, while the Utah figure is a single-year 2025 rate. 13 Read together, they suggest the problem has not stayed confined to hurricane coasts. It is spreading into the wildfire- and storm-exposed interior West. Utah state Rep. Matt MacPherson called the data "very troubling" and said the jump in non-renewals should raise eyebrows. 3

Why non-renewals matter more than price

A price increase is painful, but the homeowner still has coverage. A non-renewal forces a search for a new insurer, often in a market where other carriers are also pulling back. Homeowners who still have a mortgage generally must keep coverage, so they may end up with costlier or thinner policies. Homeowners who own outright can simply go without insurance, and Jones says that is increasingly happening. 3 Insurify estimates that about 14% of American homes are uninsured, including 11.3% in Utah. 3 Each of those homes leaves its owner fully exposed to the next fire or storm, and it can leave local governments and disaster programs to absorb losses that insurers once covered.

Regulation shapes how this plays out. Insurify notes that state rules can hold rates down or let insurers quickly raise premiums to match risk. 1 When rates are held below what carriers think the risk justifies, insurers may respond by declining to renew policies. That makes non-renewal rates a useful indicator of strain that average-premium figures can miss.

The takeaway

The "a lot" in the Pew survey describes cost. The larger issue is access. When insurers decide certain risks cannot be priced, raising premiums is no longer enough and they stop covering those homes. If the Treasury and NAIC trends continue, the main question for policymakers will be how many homeowners can still get coverage at all, not only how much they pay for it.