Has your homeowners insurance been cancelled? Did you ask yourself “What did I do wrong?” and feel anger or shame because of that cancellation letter? Or perhaps you weren’t canceled but your rate went up with no justification. What have you done to find an insurance company?

These are questions that I have been hearing from all over Iowa. Home owners purchase insurance to cover mortgages and for protection from adverse weather conditions — something Iowa has experienced a lot lately. For people on fixed incomes, increases in homeowners insurance could negatively affect their ability to pay premiums.

The headline in a July 7 story from the Cedar Rapids Gazette states that “Climate disasters have made Iowa a losing proposition for some insurance companies….”

Chris Gloninger, the former KCCI television meteorologist writes that because of climate change economic losses will continue to rise. He left Iowa because of death threats he received while reporting weather from KCCI — he talked about climate change. Chris has written recently that the size of hail has increased and will have major implications on insurance.

Now, here’s an interesting quandary. Iowa farmers receive help paying for crop insurance; the average is 65%. This insurance covers crop loss due to weather disasters for commodity crops such as corn and soybeans. Taxpayer money is used to cover the cost of crop insurance. As I see it, many homeowners are losing their homeowners insurance because of climate change, and farmers receive our tax money to help them through the same disasters that caused damage to homes and property. I am not setting up an “us vs. them” argument; just pointing out an interesting fact. I know, growing commodities is about food security, but if you have read about housing lately, it is also in crisis.

Conversations with my network of farmers throughout the state indicate that the price of crop insurance for vegetable farms, those farms that actually feed people, is much too high for them to afford. A friend in eastern Iowa has been denied coverage after losing high tunnels and vegetable crops to the derecho that devastated property a couple of years ago. It wasn’t her fault the weather picked her and others to be victims. Heck, not many of us even had the term derecho in our vocabulary in 2020.

Another farmer/writer in south central Iowa was quoted $7,170 from the only insurance company, Iowa Farm Bureau Financial Services that would cover their farm needs. There was a stipulation from the IFB. My friend and her husband were required to remove the following paragraphs from their website:

Driving around Iowa is an eye-opener. There it is, everywhere–corn and beans, corn and more corn. But this has left us with polluted waterways, high cancer rates and unhealthy foods for our kids That’s why we are excited to do things differently, to bring you beef, goats and veggies without the sprays and chemicals, the GMO corn or soybeans.

Buying from Whippoorwill Creek Farm connects you to the things that matter: feeding our families delicious and nutritious food, creating jobs in our community and making sure Iowa’s land is healthy for our great-great-great grandkids.

They refused to remove the words and therefore are not purchasing insurance from said company. This was not about climate, it was about freedom of speech.

Climate change is real and it is taking a lot to adjust to these changes. This year we witnessed a large number of tornadoes and other weather events that left nearby towns reeling. Rain, for three years we were in a drought and then in May we had major deluges. Interstate 29 was once again under water for a period of time.Insurance companies are making less of a profit with climate change and are charging consumers more to make up the difference.

Be prepared for this to happen more often. There is help in navigating the issue of cancellation. It’s called the Iowa Fair Plan Association https://iowafairplan.com/consumers/. FAIR is an acronym for Fair Access to Insurance Requirements. The website states that “Applicants who have been canceled or non-renewed should shop for replacement coverage in the voluntary market before applying for coverage through the Iowa FAIR Plan Association. This may be the future of home insurance coverage.