$29B in Claims Denied After Severe Storms

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, better known as NOAA, is the gold standard of information when it comes to climate change, and the news is not good when it comes to severe weather: the agency predicts that the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events we are currently seeing will only get worse in the future. 

The obvious solution to this is to make sure your homeowners insurance covers all instances of storm damage, but even then ValuePenguin, a LendingTree company, found that of the $121.4 billion of real weather damage sustained between 2017-2021, about a quarter (24.2% or $29.4 billion) were not covered by homeowner insurance policies. Averaging out storm damage, every home and business experienced about $940 of damage. 

This information comes from a new report from ValuePenguin by author Maggie Davis who researched the amount of total damage, the most frequent types of claims, and the locations where claims were filed the most. 

Key finding from the report include: 

• Between 2017 and 2021, severe weather caused $121.4 billion in property damages in the U.S. That averages to $940 per household and business. We estimate that more than three-quarters (75.8%) of these weather-related damages were covered by insurance, for a total of $92.0 billion. That leaves an estimated $29.4 billion not covered by property insurance. 
• Flash floods were the biggest cause of weather-related property damage. During the period analyzed, flash floods caused $49.1 billion in property damages. That’s followed by hurricanes, which caused $36.1 billion in damages, and tornadoes, which caused $7.1 billion in damages. 
• Weather-related property damages in Texas reached $58.3 billion. That’s the highest amount of damage in any state. Flash flooding, which caused $44.8 billion in weather-related damages in the state, was the leading cause. 
• Hurricane-prone Louisiana had the highest amount of weather-related damages per household and business. If spread across each household and business in the state, Louisiana properties had $15,166 in weather-related damages between 2017 and 2021, with hurricanes as the No. 1 culprit. Texas and Oregon were next at $5,585 and $2,192 per property, respectively. 

Click here to view the report in its entirety.