Most Homeowners Worried About Impact of Natural Disasters and Climate Change, New Survey Shows

Most homeowners are worried about the impact of natural disasters and climate change, a new survey shows.

A survey from U.S. News & World Report shows 61% worry about climate change and the impact of natural disasters to their home and more than one-third (35%) have considered moving to a state with a lower natural disaster risk.

The outlet’s 2024 U.S. Homeowner Survey Report appears to indicate that homeowners face anxieties about potential damage to their homes from natural disasters and heightened concerns over policy cancellations or non-renewals.

The survey queried respondents about their top homeowner stressors, and how they manage increasing insurance premiums.

A new report from LexisNexis Risk Solutions places the blame for rising premiums at the feet of natural disasters and losses: all-perils lost costs and all-perils frequency increased by 4.1% and 11% from 2022 to 2023. Since 2019, all-perils loss costs rose 52%, with frequency climbing 16.9%. Catastrophe claims represented 46% of claims across all perils combined in 2023, the highest in seven years, the report shows.

A survey from the California Association of Realtors this week shows the state’s insurance crisis is not only stressing out homeowners, but it’s impacting home sales. The group surveyed its members and found 13% reported a home sale falling out of escrow due to a buyer’s inability to find insurance, more than double the figure (6.9%) in last year’s survey.

Nearly one-third (31%) of agents surveyed also said their most recent buyers had difficulty getting insurance when trying to purchase a home.

The U.S. News & World Report also shows 82% of survey respondents want the government to cap homeowners insurance premiums, while many homeowners (20%) said they received a notice from their insurer threatening to drop their policy unless some issue with their property was resolved.

Homeowners were also asked what they experienced since purchasing their home. These were some of their responses:

20% of respondents experienced flooding in their homes
16% of respondents experienced a home break-in or theft
14% of respondents experienced hurricanes
12% of respondents experienced tornadoes
10% of respondents experienced a house fire
8% of respondents experienced earthquakes
7% of respondents experienced wildfires

U.S. News & World Report surveyed 1,800 U.S. homeowners in August. Survey respondents were ages 25 and older (46% male, 54% female) at the time of the survey.

Was this article valuable?