Washington, D.C.— At a news conference today, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) highlighted how insurance industry investments and underwriting decisions exacerbate climate change and rising insurance costs, even as companies blame climate change for the higher premiums and restricted availability of the coverage they sell to American homeowners and businesses.

“Insurance lobbyists are on Capitol Hill today saying that they must raise rates on consumers to account for increased disasters due to climate risk, but they take no responsibility for profiting off the very sources of climate change they blame for their high prices,” said Michael DeLong, CFA’s Research and Advocacy Associate.  “At a time when insurance costs are skyrocketing and homeowners are struggling to pay their premiums, insurance companies are both selling insurance to the industries that are increasing the risk, and they are also investing premium dollars in those companies. Thus, insurers earn income by facilitating climate change and then charge customers higher rates because of climate change. It is time for the industry to become part of the solution rather than continuing to be part of the problem, and policymakers around the country need to demand that as well.”

CFA joined U.S. PIRG, Public Citizen, and Americans for Financial Reform at the conference emphasizing the need to hold insurers accountable for their role in climate change. The conference coincides with the insurance industry’s “Lobby Day” on Capitol Hill, which is led by the main insurance industry trade group, the American Property and Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA).

In its recent Overburdened report, CFA estimated that Americans saw homeowners insurance premiums rise by about 24% from 2021 to 2024, due in part to the increasing property risk associated with the stronger and more frequent weather-related catastrophes driven by climate change. While insurers point to increased climate risk as a key reason for their premium hikes and surge in customer non-renewals and refusals to sell in certain communities, they continue to underwrite fossil fuel projects and invest billions of consumer premium dollars in businesses that drive climate change and the increased risk that follows.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s database, from 1980 to 2024 there were 9 weather/climate disasters on average annually that caused over $1 billion in losses. But from 2020 to 2024, the annual average number of disasters that caused over $1 billion in losses increased rapidly, to an average of 23 disasters.

For decades the insurance industry, with its huge amounts of loss data and complex modeling tools, has understood that greenhouse gas emissions and climate change would increase risk. While some insurers located in Europe and Asia have taken steps to reduce or eliminate their fossil fuel investments, American insurance companies largely refused to consider any self-reflection or take any responsibility regarding their business practices.  Instead, the insurance industry has dug in its heels and continued to profit from climate change and offload its cost onto American consumers.