Home Insurance With Kyla Scanlon | The Brainstorm EP 58
Aug 28, 2024
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In this discussion, home insurance expert Kyla Scanlon joins Sam Korus, Director of Research at Autonomous Technology and Robotics, and Associate Portfolio Manager Nick Grous. They delve into the current home insurance crisis, highlighting the troubling gap between housing supply and available insurance. Kyla discusses how climate change and rising natural disaster frequency impact costs, while regulatory challenges create affordability issues. The conversation emphasizes the need for collaboration between insurers and policymakers to protect homeowners.
The home insurance crisis arises from climate change and natural disasters, resulting in higher premiums and insurer market exits.
Regulatory measures significantly impact home insurance affordability, leaving homeowners underinsured despite escalating risks and costs in many states.
Deep dives
The Home Insurance Crisis Explained
Home insurance is under significant pressure due to various factors, primarily linked to climate change. With increasingly frequent and intense natural disasters, insurers are struggling to manage risks associated with properties, leading to higher premiums and more companies exiting certain markets. For instance, statistics reveal that disasters causing over a billion dollars in damages have surged from three in the 1980s to 28 last year, highlighting the growing unpredictability of risks. As catastrophic events become more common, the financial responsibility of insurers becomes untenable, resulting in a widespread home insurance crisis across many states.
Impact of Regulation and Reinsurance
Regulatory environments heavily influence home insurance costs, particularly in states like California where annual premium increases are capped. This regulation has left many homeowners underinsured, as the market fails to reflect the actual risk and cost of providing coverage. For example, a California homeowner's premium has been significantly restrained despite a sharp increase in genuine insurance costs, leading to situations where homeowners pay far less than they should relative to the risk. Concurrently, reinsurers, who provide insurance to primary insurers, have raised their rates, making even the cost of securing insurance higher, resulting in dire consequences for homeowners.
Broader Focus on Housing and Economic Consequences
The ongoing home insurance crisis raises serious concerns about the affordability and accessibility of housing in the United States. As individuals find it harder to secure home insurance, potential homeowners may be deterred from purchasing properties, further exacerbating the existing housing supply challenges. This situation is particularly alarming given that a significant portion of Americans' wealth is tied to real estate; a collapse in housing values could lead to diminished consumer confidence and spending. Discussions at the policy level suggest a need for reevaluation of housing as a wealth-building tool, as well as innovative solutions to ensure homes are insured in disaster-prone areas.
Is there a home insurance crisis? This week, Autonomous Technology and Robotics Director of Research Sam Korus and Associate Portfolio Manager Nick Grous are joined by Kyla Scanlon to discuss the issues surrounding home insurance and its connection to housing supply, climate change, reinsurance, and regulation.
If you know ARK, then you probably know about our long-term research projections, like estimating where we will be 5-10 years from now! But just because we are long-term investors, doesn’t mean we don’t have strong views and opinions on breaking news. In fact, we discuss and debate this every day. So now we’re sharing some of these internal discussions with you in our new video series, “The Brainstorm”, a co-production from ARK and Public.com. Tune in every week as we react to the latest in innovation. Here and there we’ll be joined by special guests, but ultimately this is our chance to join the conversation and share ARK’s quick takes on what’s going on in tech today.
Key Points From This Episode:
Home insurance is a critical issue due to the gap between housing supply and available insurance.
The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters have made insurance more expensive and led to insurers pulling out of certain markets.
Regulation plays a role in the affordability and availability of home insurance, with some states capping insurance rate increases.
The home insurance crisis has implications for the U.S. economy and consumer sentiment, as homeownership is a significant contributor to asset wealth creation.
Possible solutions include legal reform, micro insurance products, collaborative programs, and building climate resilient homes.
For more updates on Public.com:
Website: https://public.com/
YouTube: @publicinvest
Twitter: https://twitter.com/public
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