Iowans among those with higher insurance rates

Iowa home insurance rates, on average, had a double-digit increase this year due to persisting damages from derechos and infl ation.

A recent Insurify report listed Iowa as one of 15 states with a "mounting insurance crisis," and ranked the state third on the list of states with the highest yearto-date increases of premiums for homeowners.

According to the report, premiums for Iowa homeowners increased 14% from October 2023 to 2024, with the average homeowner now spending $2,416 annually. The report also noted a handful of insurance companies have stopped writing home insurance policies in Iowa.

Increasingly, insurance companies are hiking up rates in states, primarily on the coasts, that are consistently hit with natural disasters.

Sonya Sellmeyer, a consumer advocate with the Iowa Insurance Division, said she consistently hears from Iowans who receive increased premiums.

"We're not California or Florida or Louisiana … but we are in a hard insurance market, and it does follow with all these storms," Sellmeyer said.

In 2020, Iowa was one of several Midwest states hit by a derecho that the National Weather Service called, "the costliest severe thunderstorm event in United States history." It is estimated the storms and record high wind speeds caused over $11 billion in damages.

"Mother Nature has not been kind to Iowa," Sellmeyer said. "It just seems like we can't get away from those bad storms."

Sellmeyer said damages from that major event are "still on the books" for insurance underwriting purposes. And parts of Iowa have had at least one derecho each year since, according to the National Weather Service.