Americans Blame Corporate Greed, Not Extreme Weather, for High Home Insurance Costs

Homeowners increasingly distrust insurers as climate risks and premiums surge nationwide.

Home insurance premiums are soaring across the country as insurers warn that hurricanes, wildfires and other climate-fueled disasters are making homeownership more expensive. But homeowners largely aren’t buying that story.

A new Pew Research Center survey found that 71% of U.S. homeowners say their insurance costs have risen in recent years, and most place the blame on insurers’ profit motives and the cost of repairing and rebuilding their homes, not extreme weather.

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Nearly two-thirds (65%) of homeowners who’ve seen their premiums rise said insurance companies “wanting to make more money” is a major reason for the increase. Fewer respondents (46%) cited extreme weather events as a major factor.

The findings underscore growing public skepticism toward the insurance industry at a time when home coverage is becoming increasingly expensive — and in some regions increasingly difficult to obtain, if not near impossible.

Gina Clausen Lozier, an insurance attorney and partner at Clausen Choquette, says that skepticism is rooted in what consumers actually experience when they try to use their coverage.

“As consumers, homeowners expect that when they purchase insurance for their homes, they will be fully protected in the event of a loss,” Lozier tells Money. “Instead, many may face denied claims, high deductibles, or restrictive coverage provisions, all while paying steep premiums to insurers.”

That frustration, she adds, is compounded by the structure of the industry itself. Because many insurers are publicly traded and operate under pressure to deliver returns, consumers often see premium hikes through the lens of profit rather than risk.

“Combined with the rising cost of living, homeowners may feel taken advantage of by insurers, particularly because insurance is often not optional,” Lozier says.

Still, experts caution that the story behind rising premiums is more complex than public sentiment alone suggests.

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Why insurers say rates keep rising

Climate risk is playing an increasingly central role in reshaping the insurance market as catastrophic losses rise across the country. In 2025, for example, the Palisades and Eaton fires alone made up roughly one-third of global insured losses that year, totaling about $41 billion, according to Aon’s 2026 Climate and Catastrophe Insight report. Hurricanes, flooding, wildfires and record-breaking heat waves are all driving similarly steep increases in insured losses.

Industry data also complicates the idea that insurers are simply cashing in. In several disaster-prone states, carriers have reported mounting losses, scaled back coverage or pulled out of high-risk markets altogether. Insurers also cite soaring reinsurance costs after years of expensive natural disasters drove up losses.

As a result, homeowners may see higher premiums even in areas that haven’t been hit by major disasters.

“Together, these factors contribute to a complex pricing environment in which insurers must balance long-term financial stability with affordability for policyholders, making premium increases the result of multiple interacting economic forces rather than a single cause,” Lozier says.

As premiums continue to rise — with 42% of respondents in the Pew survey saying their insurance costs have increased significantly — and coverage availability tightens in some at-risk markets, insurers face a growing challenge beyond simply pricing climate risk.

If the skepticism highlighted in Pew’s recent study continues to evolve into distrust, Lozier warns, the ripple effects could reshape the market itself.

“The future of the home insurance market remains in constant flux,” she says. “If the private insurance market struggles to maintain consumer trust and long-term viability, there may be increased reliance on state-backed insurance programs or lender-placed ‘forced’ insurance policies.”

Force-placed insurance is coverage a mortgage lender can impose when homeowners lose or fail to maintain a required policy. These policies are often more expensive and typically provide less protection than traditional home insurance because they are designed to protect the lender — not the homeowner — in case of a disaster.

Neither forced-placed insurance policies nor state-backed programs are a perfect substitute for traditional coverage. Both can come with more limited protections and, in some cases, fewer choices for consumers — further fueling concerns that the system designed to protect their homes is becoming harder to rely on.

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