Wêrom fersekeringsbedriuwen har weromtrekke út oerstreamingsgebieten
July 30, 2026 · Frisian News
Major insurers are abandoning flood-prone communities in the United States and Europe, citing climate risk. In practice, they are leaving ordinary people to cover the losses.
FryskState Farm stopte yn 2024 mei it akseptearjen fan nije húsfersekeringpolissen yn Florida en Californië. It bedriuw, dat eartiids ien op de fiif Amerikaanske huzen fersekere, set no nije polissen stop. Allstate, AIG en oaren folgje. Dit is gjin lytse oanpassing. Miljoenen húseigeners yn kust- en riviergebieten kinne nearne mear fersekering krije.
De fersekerders stelle dat klimaatferoaring en oprinnende skeadeklaims dizze merken ûnrendabel meitsje. Dat kloppet safier. Wat se net sizze: harren modellen litte sjen dat dizze gebieten jierren ûnrendabel bliuwe, dus fertrekke se no om dat risiko te mijen. Se skowe dat risiko troch nei húseigeners, gemeenten en belestingbetellers. Húseigeners bedarje by steatlike 'latste-kar-fersekerders' dy't folle hegere premjes freegje en minne dekking biede. Dizze steatsfûnsen hawwe no miljarden oan net-dekte ferplichtingen.
De weromtrekking straft wurkjende gesinnen hurder as rike gesinnen. De eigner fan in djoer strânhúske kin hegere premjes betelje of fertrekke. In learaar of elektrisjen dy't in hûs yn in oerstreamingsgebiet hat, mar ticht by harren wurk wennet, kin net samar fuort. Se sitte fêst. Lokale belestingbases skrimpje trochdat húswearden sakje. Skoallen en brânwachten ferlieze finansiering. De partikuliere fersekeringsmerk skode it risiko nei de earmen.
Nimmen freget him ôf oft de klimaatmodellen fan fersekerders werklik krekt binne foar spesifike huzen. De measte bedriuwen kochten harren risikogegevens fan deselde leveransiers en brûke deselde rampmodellen. Se gean yn deselde rjochting, wat wiist op groepsgedrach earder as op wittenskip. In hûs dat ien kear yn de 200 jier oerstreamd wurdt, wurdt itselde behannele as in hûs dat elke 20 jier oerstreamd wurdt. De krekte analyze ûntbrekt.
Fersekering moat risiko's sprieden. As fersekerders ophâlde mei fersekeren, ferlitte se it kearnidee. Wat folje de kleau op? Regearing, leafdiedichheid, of neat. No meastal neat. De minsken yn it wetter betelje de rekken allinnich.
State Farm stopped accepting new homeowners insurance in Florida and California in 2024. The company, which once insured one in five American homes, now caps new policies. Allstate, AIG, and others have followed. This is not a minor adjustment. Millions of homeowners in coastal and river-prone areas can no longer get insurance at any price.
The insurers explain that climate change and rising claims costs make these markets unprofitable. That is true as far as it goes. What they don't say is that their models show these areas will remain unprofitable for years, so they are exiting now to avoid the risk. They shift that risk to homeowners, local governments, and taxpayers. Homeowners are forced into state-run "insurers of last resort" that charge much higher premiums and offer worse coverage. These state pools now hold billions in unfunded liabilities.
The retreat punishes working families more than wealthy ones. A wealthy owner of a beach house can absorb higher premiums or walk away. A teacher or electrician who owns a house in a flood-prone area but near their job cannot easily leave. They are trapped. Local tax bases erode as property values fall. Schools and fire departments lose funding. The private insurance market shifted risk to the poor.
Nobody asks whether the insurers' climate models are actually accurate for specific properties. Most of these companies bought their risk data from the same vendors and use the same catastrophe models. They move in lockstep, which suggests herd behavior more than science. A house that gets flooded once every 200 years is treated the same way as one that floods every 20 years. The granularity is missing.
Insurance is meant to spread risk. When insurers stop insuring, they abandon the core idea. What fills the gap? Government, charity, or nothing at all. For now, it is mostly nothing. The people in the water hold the bill alone.
Published July 30, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân