How Will Homeowners’ Insurance Be Affected By Idalia?

Hurricane Idalia is just the latest storm that threatens to raise the cost of homeowners’ insurance.

Last week’s storm, which stretched from Florida’s Gulf Coast to the Carolinas, could cost the U.S. economy up to $20 billion, and with up to 6,000 homes affected in one Florida county alone, insurance premiums across the region are expected to see significant increases, according to a Moody’s report reviewed by USA Today.

Homeowners could be asked to pay around $20,000 more for their premiums, according to the report from James Eck, a senior credit officer for Moody’s Investors Service.

“Instead of a $1,000 or $5,000 deductible, maybe it’s $20,000 or $25,000,” Eck said to the newspaper.

Insurers could also put a cap on the number of houses in a given neighborhood they insure.

The changes are bad news for Florida, which saw most of the damage from Idalia and is already losing insurers and has seen insurance premiums soar between 100 and 300% in the last several years, NBC reported. 

Typical home insurance policies don’t cover all damage from hurricanes, according to Bankrate. They usually cover about 50 to 70% of the personal property on your insured home, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

More people are purchasing additional flooding insurance from The National Flood Insurance Program and private insurers as climate change drives up the frequency and intensity of hurricanes because standard home insurance policies don’t cover flood damage.

In order for homeowners to bring down their insurance premiums, they might be asked to flood-proof their basements, use flood-resistant insulation, or install flood vents, USA Today reported.