The skyrocketing cost of insurance premiums in Florida is leading residents to drop their insurance, consider selling their home, and even move out of the state, according to recent reports.
For years now, the sunny, vibrant state has been a magnetic destination for many Americans—a phenomenon which has been driving up demand for housing, especially during the pandemic, as well as home prices.
But while Florida was the number one state in the country that people moved to in 2022, it was also the one with the highest number of residents wanting to relocate, according to a SelfStorage.
It’s interesting to me that insurance companies are becoming the chief drivers of the preparation for climate change: “Wanna build a house in the woods? On a sandbar? GTFO. Use your own money.”
Since humans invented math and fossil fuels, this moment was inevitable. The writing has been on the wall in Florida for ten years.
I forgot the actual statistics, but it’s something crazy. Like Florida constitutes 8% of the country’s homeowners insurance policies, but 80% of all homeowners insurance litigation. Florida real estate is a ponzi scheme now.
They’ve got miles and miles and miles of roads in Florida lined with 10-million dollar, beachfront houses, all of which will sooner than later be buried under 25 ft of seaweed for the next thousand years. The question is who will be left holding the bag on all that risk?
I’m certain the Republicans in the Florida legislature will let the insurance companies off of the hook before too long here, and will leave working people holding a bunch of worthless real estate, just waiting for climate catastrophe to wipe everything away.
Well yeah. The cost of damage resulting from rising sea levels are one of the negative externalities that result from burning fossil fuels. Insurance premiums are effectively passing that cost on to future flood victims.
That means the right market-based solution, which both parties claim to love, is to apply an appropriately sized carbon tax, thereby internalizing those costs in the price of fuel, and using the funds to pay for flood mitigation and future damage, but that looks too much like socialism…
The criticisms I hear from the American left about carbon taxes is that they don’t work, not that they look like socialism. I think they probably would work, but what do I know.
Because they are grounded in the real world. If your goal is to make money finding out how to lower your costs is a good way to do it. If your goal is to win elections telling people what they want to hear is a good way to do it. They know that this is happening and it is going to get worse.