Fair Share calls for insurance industry accountability on homeowners insurance

According to a study by the Consumer Federation of America, homeowners premiums climbed in 95% of ZIP codes between 2021 and 2024.

Rising insurance costs are forcing some people to delay home ownership, forgo coverage or under-insure their homes. Costs are going up primarily due to rising rebuilding costs and increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters.

While there are a variety of solutions for reducing costs, an immediate starting point is for insurance companies to publicly release data on homeowners insurance underwriting, pricing, coverage, and claims every year. To protect against housing discrimination and ensure that all communities are served, mortgage lenders have been required to report detailed, annual mortgage data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) since 1975. But as homeowners insurance increasingly determines who can own a home, insurers should be required to report homeowners insurance data in the same way.

Most home insurance is regulated on a state-by-state basis. State insurance commissioners collaborate with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). NAIC has called on insurance companies to submit data related to coverage and premiums. They expect to produce a national report in 2027.

We will be watchdogging this process to ensure that consumers have the data they need to make good decisions and researchers and public officials have access to data to make good public policy.