Best of the West – Explanatory Reporting

Alice Roden

3 hours ago

Best of the West - Explanatory Reporting

Over the course of 2025, the Mountain West News Bureau (MWNB) did a deep dive on the serious and growing homeowners insurance crisis impacting communities across the region. Premiums are soaring, policyholders are losing coverage with little explanation and real estate markets are being threatened. Reporters Murphy Woodhouse and Rachel Cohen spoke with numerous experts, policymakers, advocates and regular people across the West worried about what this all means for the roofs over their heads.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR JUDGES: This entry includes three features, one dedicated website for our coverage with interactive maps and one interview. To not exceed the category’s limit of five elements, judges can choose to either read or listen to the features (playable audio is up top on the stories linked below).

PACKAGE ELEMENTS

FEATURE 1: A home insurance crisis is building in the Mountain West. State leaders are struggling to respond

The Middle Fork of the Payette River near Crouch, Idaho. Boise County, which includes several rural mountain towns, had the highest insurance cancellation rate in the state in 2023.

INTERVIEW: Losing coverage: Mountain West homeowners face an insurance crisis (the audio begins with the audio from the feature above, and the interview begins around 9:20)

Kip McBean, the owner of this home in the Garden Valley, has seen his insurance premiums jump dramatically in recent years.

FEATURE 2: Scientists chase storms through the Mountain West to study hail’s growing toll

Scientists set up measure devices to capture hail observations near Dodge City, Kan. as part of Landon Moeller
ICECHIP. The project is the largest field study of hail in the U.S. in 40 years.

DEDICATED PAGE: Mountain West News Bureau Homeowners Insurance Resources

FEATURE 3: As evidence of Idaho homeowners insurance crisis mounts, so does bipartisan concern

In the middle of the couch from left, Steve “Snaggletooth” Buscemi, Blue and Shorty get scritches from their owners Wendy and Larry Nevers. The Nevers have faced significant homeowners insurance premium increases over their first year living in Idaho.

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Alice Roden

Alice J. Roden started working for Trending Insurance News at the end of 2021. Alice grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. A writer with a vast insurance industry background Alice has help with several of the biggest insurance companies. Before joining Trending Insurance News, Alice briefly worked as a freelance journalist for several radio stations. She covers home, renters and other property insurance stories.