 annually. After her insurer stopped writing new policies in her neighbourhood, in 2022, the quote she received from the state-backed plan was more than triple that amount - $9,876 - a sum she could not afford. "To pay insurance would be taking away from food on my table, right now," says Ms Bradford, who relies on disability insurance for her income. Image source, Gretchen Bradford Image caption, Gretchen Bradford lives in Pontchartrain Park, a once-segregated black neighbourhood in New Orleans "I can't grow money out of trees. I don't have it. So, I don't know what else to do." Ms Bradford is not alone in her plight. Across the country, home insurance prices are spiking, as companies raise rates and limit coverage, responding in part to the fallout from more frequent extreme weather, which scientists attribute to climate change. Dozens of smaller insurers have gone out of business, unable to withstand the shock of multiple billion-dollar disasters. In states heavy hit by storms, wildfires and flooding, such as California, Florida and Louisiana, some big providers have stopped writing new policies altogether. Companies say the upheaval reflects the h){kind=link}
As extreme weather events multiply, home insurance providers in the US are rapidly raising rates – or quitting the business altogether – forcing many into severe financial distress.
Gretchen Bradford decided this year not to pay for home insurance.
The 59-year-old has lived her whole life in New Orleans, which sits on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast in a zone climate experts call Hurricane Alley for the devastating storms – including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – that routinely crash against its shores.
She lives in the home her parents purchased in 1958, a prized possession which, after each hurricane, has become increasingly expensive to protect with home insurance.
In 2021, she was paying $3,035 (£2,386) annually. After her insurer stopped writing new policies in her neighbourhood, in 2022, the quote she received from the state-backed plan was more than triple that amount – $9,876 – a sum she could not afford.