Professor: Hurricane Helene, inflation and growth drove Georgia homeowners insurers to large underwriting losses

Professor Peter Hartwig, an insurance scholar from the University of South Carolina, told the Georgia House Insurance Rate Study Committee in Savannah that Georgia’s homeowners insurance market has moved from thin profits to large underwriting losses in recent years, driven primarily by catastrophe losses, inflation in building costs and demographic growth.

Hartwig told the committee that Georgia’s homeowners combined ratio — the standard industry measure of claims and underwriting expenses divided by earned premium — rose to about 144.9 in 2024, meaning insurers paid about $145 in losses and expenses for every $100 of premium earned. “For every $100 the insurers earned in premium they paid out about $145,” Hartwig said. He said the state’s five‑ to six‑year combined‑ratio average also has been elevated and that Georgia has persistently underperformed the U.S. average on homeowners returns on equity.

Why it matters: higher combined ratios indicate insurers are losing money on underwriting and must either raise rates, reduce coverage, limit new business or rely on…