Homeowners blindsided as insurance giants hike rates amid disturbing trend: 'We're seeing more of these issues come up'

Researchers have been taking a closer look at trends in hail, and the results are dire, according to Inside Climate News. 

What's happening?

Shifts in climate are making hail bigger and heavier throughout the Great Plains, according to a recent study.  

The largest hailstones are projected to strike at least 15% more regularly by the middle of the century. That frequency could go up to 75%, depending on how we manage pollution.

This is because the warmer atmosphere is increasing the strength of updrafts, giving large hail more time to form. That said, the added heat will also reduce the frequency of small hail, according to the study. 

Why is hail important?

Severe convective storms, which include hail, caused $60 billion in property losses in 2023. 

"When you ask people, 'How does climate change affect you?' Everyone's like, 'Well, it doesn't affect me,'" said report author Victor Gensini, per Inside Climate News. "Yeah, it does. Are you paying insurance? Every year, every month, you're paying for this change, whether or not you realize it." 

"It's just an underappreciated peril that causes billions of dollars in loss every year," said Gensini.

Other data suggest that increasingly destructive weather patterns are raising insurance costs. 

What's being done about hail?

Researchers are recommending more resilient building codes in order to prepare for increased hail damage.  

As for insurance costs, Illinois legislators are hoping to enforce more robust reviews of rate hikes. Northern Illinois University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, are also opening a research center that can help insurance companies use the latest models to be more informed on policy decisions. 

"Some of the best modeling approaches, the best analysis, the best science, has been over the last 50 years or so, federally funded in the United States," said climatologist Trent Ford, per Inside Climate News. "At the same time that we're seeing more of these issues come up in the insurance industry, we are undercutting the quality and the availability of the information."

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