Insurance premium rates for Connecticut homeowners up 13.5% in one year. Here's why.

Jul. 2—As U.S. property and casualty insurance premiums top $1 trillion, Connecticut homeowners continue to get hit with escalating costs at policy renewal, according to the state comptroller's office.

Connecticut homeowners insurance rates shot up 13.5% in 2024, according to Connecticut Insurance Department data published earlier this year, coming on the heels of a 9.6% increase in 2023. Over the prior four years, rates rose at a more moderate pace, between 3.4% and 5.1% annually.

"Wind, which frequently damages roofs, and resulting water damage, are the main loss drivers in Connecticut," wrote analysts with the Connecticut state comptroller's office in a review last month citing Insurance Department numbers. "If premiums get too high for homeowners to afford, they are likely to reduce coverage, making them more exposed should a disaster or loss occur."

Insurers propose rates and deductibles to the Connecticut Insurance Department, which can order adjustments if its analysts deem actuarial criteria justify changes. The Connecticut Insurance Department trimmed carrier requests by a combined $34.5 million in premiums last year, according to its annual report.

Nationally across all lines of property and casualty insurance, annual premiums topped $1 trillion for the first time in 2024 according to A.M. Best, a New Jersey-based credit ratings agency that focuses on the insurance sector. A.M. Best officials say carriers continue to raise rates to cover higher claim costs, whether the result of inflation, larger home footprints today, or catastrophic events.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners reported a $20 billion increase in net losses for property and casualty insurance carriers in the first quarter of 2025, a 15.5% spike from a year earlier. But insurance carriers were coming off a $25 billion underwriting gain last year, and another $84.7 billion in investment income that was the highest to date this decade.

Travelers, a major Connecticut carrier, reported a $950 million underwriting loss in the first quarter on homeowners, auto insurance, umbrella coverage and other personal insurance lines. That was driven by claims from the Los Angeles wildfire catastrophe in January and February.

Connecticut homeowners are having to pay higher premiums despite having only a small handful of disaster declarations in recent years here, as tracked in a May study by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The Federal Emergency Management Agency declared just one disaster in Connecticut over the past three years: the 2024 August flood that caused extensive damage in Oxford, Southbury and other towns.

By comparison, Rhode Island was hit with four events triggering FEMA disaster declarations between 2022 and 2024, with six disasters hitting New Hampshire and eight in both Maine and Vermont. FEMA has declared two disasters in Massachusetts in that same time span.

Homeowners policies do not cover flood damage, with rates going up as well for some in the National Flood Insurance Program that is used by thousands of Connecticut homeowners.

Connecticut created a Severe Weather Mitigation & Resiliency Council last year to come up with policies to help homeowners and businesses prepare better for climate risk including in the context of insurance. In June, the council submitted recommendations to the Connecticut Insurance Department. Options include programs to strengthen roofs to help houses better withstand punishing winds and rain, with the possibility of homeowners getting discounts on policies if they get certification under the Fortified Roof program offered by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.

"Wind-induced damage to residential structures — particularly to roofs and walls of older or non-elevated buildings — can be extensive even in moderate storm events," the Severe Weather Mitigation & Resiliency Council wrote in its June 2025 report. "High wind and major rain events are damaging homes and exposing residents to major financial losses, particularly those in older homes in urban cities and towns."

Includes prior reporting by Dan Amarante and Ken Dixon.

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