Just about every part of the U.S. has felt the impact of climate change this summer, with drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires, flash flooding in the Northeast and dangerously high temperatures across the South. Extreme weather not only poses health risks but can also make it harder and more expensive to insure your home.<\/p>\n
\u201cClimate change acts as an amplifier of hazards,\u201d says Aris Papadopoulos, a resilience expert at Florida International University\u2019s Extreme Events Institute. Climate change is making\u00a0natural disasters\u00a0both more frequent and more intense, he says. And that means more risk to your home.<\/p>\n
For example, a warmer atmosphere brings more evaporation, heavier rainfall and rising sea levels \u2014 all of which could increase your home\u2019s chance of flooding.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in the Western U.S.,\u00a0wildfires\u00a0are happening more often and burning longer, says Kimiko Barrett, a wildfire research and policy analyst at Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research group.<\/p>\n
But more frequent natural disasters are only one part of the problem when it comes to insurance, Papadopoulos says. The other is the increasing number of homes in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been building in flood plains. We\u2019ve been building too close to the riverbanks, to lake banks, too close to the shore,\u201d he says. Many homes are also going up near forested areas prone to wildfires.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe combination of the greater hazards and the vulnerability of these [buildings] is what\u2019s put us on this course of destruction,\u201d Papadopoulos says.<\/p>\n
Also see: <\/strong>Wind damage will impact more U.S. homes than before, in Florida especially. How best to protect your property.<\/p>\n Homeowners count on their insurance policies to be there for them if disaster strikes. But in the face of increasing risk, you may pay more for the coverage \u2014 or even have trouble getting it at all.<\/p>\n In recent months, State Farm and Allstate have stopped selling new homeowners policies in California, citing rising catastrophe risk as one reason. Numerous carriers have gone out of business or withdrawn from the home insurance market in hurricane-prone Florida and Louisiana over the past few years, leaving homeowners with fewer options. In Colorado, the legislature recently created a state-run insurer of last resort to help homeowners in wildfire-risk areas who are having trouble finding coverage.<\/p>\n In states like these, some homeowners are scrambling to find a policy after\u00a0their insurer drops them\u00a0or settling for less comprehensive coverage because it\u2019s all they can afford.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know where this is going to go,\u201d says Dori Einhorn, owner of Einhorn Insurance Agency in San Diego. \u201cThis is by far the worst I\u2019ve seen it in my 15 years in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Climate change isn\u2019t the only reason for the industry\u2019s upheaval in certain states. Inflation, government regulations and expensive lawsuits have also cut into insurers\u2019 profits in many parts of the country.<\/p>\n But the more natural disasters there are, the more insurance companies have to pay in claims \u2014 and the more they have to pay for their own insurance policies, known as reinsurance. Then, they pass these costs to customers in the form of higher premiums.<\/p>\n Related:<\/strong> \u2018It was so traumatic to see the destruction\u2019:\u00a0More Americans are moving to flood-prone areas. Why do they defy the warnings?<\/p>\n Cost aside, you may find that your existing homeowners policy doesn\u2019t offer enough coverage for the risks you face as the climate changes.<\/p>\n In particular, you\u2019ll want to check your home\u2019s chance of flooding, even if you don\u2019t live on the coast. Scientists expect heavy rainfall to cause more flash flooding in the future, and standard home insurance policies won\u2019t pay for flood damage.<\/p>\n To check your risk, enter your address on the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s\u00a0flood maps\u00a0or visit RiskFactor.com, a resource from the nonprofit First Street Foundation. If your home has a moderate or high risk, you may want to buy\u00a0flood insurance.<\/p>\n Be aware that most policies have a 30-day waiting period before they take effect.<\/p>\nRising costs, limited availability<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Insufficient coverage<\/strong><\/h2>\n