Home insurance premiums are rising, but that's not the only problem. Nonrenewals are surging, leaving some homeowners with fewer options.
Homeowners have gotten used to hearing bad news about insurance premiums. But a new nationwide analysis suggests rising prices are only part of the problem.
Home insurance is also getting harder to keep.
A first-of-its-kind report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) found that insurer-initiated nonrenewal rates increased between 96% and 216% from 2018 to 2024, depending on the region. In 2024 alone, insurers initiated more than 2 million nonrenewals nationwide.
For homeowners, that raises a more unsettling possibility than another premium hike: What happens if your insurance company decides it no longer wants to cover your home?
Home insurance is getting harder to keep
There’s no question insurance has gotten pricier. From 2018 to 2024, average inflation-adjusted premiums increased between 18.3% and 43.3% across the four regions analyzed by the NAIC. But over that same period, insurer-initiated nonrenewals rose much faster.
The Southeast saw the biggest jump, with the nonrenewal rate climbing 216%. The Northeast was up 147%. And in the West, the rate more than tripled in just two years, from eight nonrenewals per 1,000 policies in 2022 to 25.1 in 2024.
“A nonrenewal notice can be a bigger problem than a higher premium. A higher bill is painful, but at least you still have coverage,” says John Espenschied, agency principal and owner at Insurance Brokers Group. “A nonrenewal can leave a homeowner with limited choices, less coverage, and a much higher cost if they wait too long.”
A nonrenewal means the insurer has decided not to continue your coverage once your current policy ends. And it doesn't necessarily mean you've done anything wrong.
Insurers may pull back from an entire area because of wildfire, hurricane, or other weather exposure, even if an individual homeowner has never filed a claim.
Why insurers are becoming pickier about the homes they cover
The NAIC data offers some clues about why this is happening. Insurers incurred roughly $98.2 billion in homeowners insurance losses in 2024, and the average inflation-adjusted claim cost about $13,349. Claim severity has generally climbed in recent years, although the pattern varies by region.
Rebuilding a damaged home has also gotten more expensive. And insurers are increasingly assessing risk at a hyperlocal level, considering factors such as weather exposure, rebuilding costs, and historical claims patterns.
That means a national insurance market can look relatively healthy while certain communities have far fewer options.
The NAIC found 715 companies were still writing homeowners coverage in 2024. Yet among insurers that operated continuously from 2018 through 2024, more than half reduced the number of policies they wrote in every region.
In other words, an insurer doesn't have to leave a state altogether to become much more selective about the homes it covers.
Meteorologists agree that Super El Niño is expected to hit these five states the hardest in the coming months, through winter 2027. (Realtor.com) Where you live increasingly determines your insurance options
The NAIC repeatedly emphasizes that home insurance is a local market. A homeowner in a wildfire-prone part of California, for example, may face a very different insurance market than someone elsewhere in the country or even elsewhere in the state.
And this is important for new homebuyers, too. “Rising non-renewals aren’t just a challenge for current homeowners; they’re also a growing risk for homebuyers,” says Julia Taliesin, an economic analyst and licensed insurance agent at Insurify.
If you're buying in an area where insurers have been pulling back, getting insurance quotes before you're deep into the transaction can help you understand what coverage is available and what it might cost. A surprisingly expensive or difficult-to-find policy could change the math on what you can comfortably afford.
What to do if your homeowners insurance isn't renewed
First: Don't wait. Contact your insurer or agent to find out exactly why the policy isn't being renewed and when your coverage ends. Then start shopping immediately.
“Every carrier looks at risk a little differently, so one company saying no does not mean every company will say no,” Espenschied says.
An independent insurance broker may be especially useful because they can compare options from multiple carriers. If traditional coverage isn't available, homeowners can also investigate their state's FAIR Plan or other insurer-of-last-resort program.
It may also be worth asking whether there's anything you can change about the property to make it easier to insure.
“Nearly all underwriters start their checks with the roof age and condition: one thing that leads to non-renewal faster than any other is an older roof,” says Rami Sneineh, vice president and licensed insurance producer at Insurance Navy Brokers.
Updating aging electrical, plumbing, or HVAC systems can also help demonstrate lower risk, particularly in older homes. And don't just make the improvements—also document them. Keep permits, inspection reports, and receipts so you can prove the work was completed.
Depending on where you live, wildfire mitigation, tree trimming, storm-resistant upgrades, and other improvements can also help you look more insurable.
Because the latest NAIC data points to a changing insurance problem: For a growing number of homeowners, the question isn't simply, “How much will my insurance cost?”
It's, “Will I be able to get insurance at all?”