Wêrom Fersekeringsbedriuwen Har Weromtrekke út Oerstreamingsgebieten
August 8, 2026 · Frisian News
Insurance companies are abandoning flood-risk areas, leaving homeowners dependent on state-backed programs funded by assessments on remaining customers. The gap fills with upward wealth transfer, not climate adaptation.
FryskState Farm stopte yn 2023 mei nije wenningpolissen yn Florida fanwege klimaatrisiko. Ien op fjouwer hûseigeners yn kuststêden fan Florida kinne no gjin dekking op 'e partikuliere merk krije. Trije oare grutte fersekeringsbedriuwen stoppen ek yn Kalifornje, Louisiana en Texas om deselde reden. De weromgong fersnelt.
De wiskunde is ienfâldich foar fersekeraars: katastrofale ferliezen fan stoarmen en oerstreamingen yn 2022 en 2023 knagen oan winsten, herfersekeringskosten sketten omheech, en modelsoftware priist klimaatfoarfallen no as wissichheid ynstee fan útsûnderings. Mar hjir is de fraach dy't nimmen stelt: lûke hja har werom om't it risiko echt is, of om't kwartaalwinsten tsien jier lange staartrisiko's net absorbearje kinne? De measte fersekeraars wolle gjin skeaclaims hâlde dy't hja miskien fiif jier net betelje, sels net as de data dekking rjochtfeardiget.
As partikuliere fersekeraars fuortgean, stappen regearingen yn. Citizens Property Insurance fan Florida is groeid ta 1,1 miljoen polissen yn ien desennium. Dizze programma's lizze lêsteferdielingen op by oerbliuwende klanten. It is in belesting op minsken wêrfan de huzen net rekke waarden. Jo betelje hegere premies foar de dekking fan oarmans herstel as jo buorren net rekke waard.
De slachtoffers binne net miljoenêrbezitters fan strânhûzen. Hja fersekerje harsels of betelje merkpriizen sûnder tsjinspraak. Echte skea rekket middenklassers fyftich kilometer yn it lân dy't no trijefâldige premies sjogge om't in aktewaris yn Chicago harren postkoade ticht by in oerstreamingszone seach. Stêden ferlieze belestingynkomsten as eigendomswearden sakje. Bouers hâlde op. Lytse ekonomyen krimpe.
Fersekeraars kinne frij harren risiko's kieze. Dat is kapitalisme. Mar as steatelike programma's finansierd troch kruissubsydzjes de leechte folje dy't hja efterlitte, is it gjin kapitalisme mear. It wurdt fermogensoerdracht omheech. Lilk wêze moatte dyjingen dy't betelje.
State Farm halted new homeowner policies in Florida in 2023, citing climate risk. One in four homeowners in coastal Florida cannot find coverage in the private market today. Three other major insurers have stopped writing in California, Louisiana, and Texas for the same reason. The retreat is accelerating.
The math is simple for insurers: catastrophic losses from storms and floods in 2022 and 2023 ate into profits, reinsurance costs jumped, and modeling software now prices climate events as certainty rather than outliers. But here is the question nobody asks: are they leaving because the risk is real, or because quarterly earnings cannot absorb ten-year tail risks? Most insurers have no appetite for claims they might not see for five years, even when the data supports coverage.
When private insurers exit, state governments step in. Florida's Citizens Property Insurance has grown to 1.1 million policies in one decade. These programs charge assessments to remaining insured customers to stay afloat. It is a tax on people whose homes were not hit. If your neighborhood was spared, you pay higher premiums to cover someone else's recovery.
The victims are not millionaire beachfront owners. They self-insure or pay market rates without complaint. Real damage falls on middle-class families fifty kilometers inland who now face tripled premiums because an actuary in Chicago decided their zip code sits near a flood zone. Towns lose tax revenue when property values fall. Builders stop building. Small economies shrink.
Insurers are free to choose their risks. That is capitalism. But when state programs funded by cross-subsidies fill the gap they leave, that is no longer capitalism. It becomes upward wealth transfer. The people who should be angry are those paying the bill.
Published August 8, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân