Map Shows States Expected to See Home Insurance Prices Surge

This year’s hurricane season is set to jack up home insurance prices significantly in several states, a new report revealed.

A new Insurify report found that five to eight hurricane impacts could shift home insurance costs in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and New York.

Already, Florida sees hurricane damage claims contribute to an average annual home insurance cost of $11,000, while Louisiana is at $6,354.

The average yearly home insurance cost for all Atlantic and Gulf Coast states was $2,994, which is 26 percent higher than the 2023 national average of $2,377.

But by the end of 2024, Floridians will likely see an increase to an average cost of $11,759, a 7 percent hike, according to Insurify.

Louisiana will see prices jump from $6,354 to $7,809, and Mississippi could see a increase from $4,312 to $4,482.

A map of anticipated insurance rate increases:

The predicted insurance price boosts are coming as the Atlantic basin becomes an “ideal environment” for hurricanes as El Niño, a time of warming ocean temperatures, transitions into La Niña, which will cause cooling, the report said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the odds of La Niña developing by June to August are at 60 percent.

“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,” Jacob Gee, an insurance agent, quality assurance specialist and knowledge facilitator with Insurify, said in the report. “This would likely lead insurers to reassess their risk models and adjust insurance rates accordingly.”

Already, homeowners are struggling to afford their properties, with 30 percent of surveyed homeowners in a different Insurify survey saying they can’t afford their current mortgage interest rates now or in the future.

Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, said the pandemic also saw more Southeastern states surge in population as a result of looser coronavirus guidelines. That, too, saw some of the insurance costs rise.

“That movement has triggered a series of events that are now hurting homeowners more than helping them,” Beene told Newsweek. “Higher home values have increased all other expenses pertaining to them, with perhaps the most stunning being a dramatic rise in insurance prices that have even caused some homeowners to drop coverage completely.”

Homeowners in the affected areas routinely expect higher prices as a result of hurricanes, but the surge can be hard to handle as they face rising bills in nearly every other sector.

“It’s yet another increase which is going to make insurance more difficult to afford and make homeowners think twice before relocating to another house in the states affected,” Beene said.

“Ultimately, I think these rising rates will have a negative effect on home ownership in this area of the country long term. Paying fewer taxes and attaining a lower overall cost of living are factors that can be significantly dampened if it feels financially impossible to afford and insure a house in many areas.”