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Insurers, consumer groups and researchers outline causes and fixes for Montana homeowners insurance crunch
Summary
Insurance industry groups, consumer advocates and researchers told the Economic Affairs Committee that rising building and reinsurance costs, extreme weather and legal costs drive higher premiums; panelists urged mitigation, better data, premium transparency and targeted state programs to protect affordability.
A multi‑stakeholder panel convened for the HGA 61 interim study on property insurance presented converging views on why homeowners insurance is rising and what the Legislature could consider.
Industry representatives from the American Property Casualty Insurance Association and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies described a market strained by inflationary pressure on building materials and labor, rising catastrophe losses and higher reinsurance costs. Lynn Elliott (APCIA) said insurers see decades of underwriting losses in Montana and emphasized mitigation and resilient building codes, including third‑party verification programs such as the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, to reduce claims exposure.
Consumer advocates and researchers — the Consumer Federation of America and AARP Montana — highlighted mounting burdens for homeowners, especially older adults and rural residents. Michael DeLong (CFA) summarized CFA reports showing rising premiums (national trends and county‑level spikes in Montana), a likely growth in uninsured homeowners, and large credit‑score penalties for lower credit bands. Kristen Nye (AARP Montana) underscored disproportionate impacts on older Montanans and urged price and rating transparency plus mitigation supports targeted to seniors.
Kamiko Barrett of Headwaters Economics framed wildfire‑insurance risk as a community problem: she said home‑to‑home ignition during urban conflagrations makes neighborhood‑scale mitigation essential. Barrett recommended layering incentives and regulations: baseline standards, certifiable mitigation programs and targeted funding rather than a single policy fix.
State Commissioner of Securities and Insurance staff said Montana has joined NAIC data calls to secure better incident and nonrenewal data; full, robust data sets might not be available until June. The commissioner’s office is implementing statutory transparency requirements for wildfire risk scores (HB 533) and has rulemaking work tied to earlier legislation on mitigation discounts (HB 136), but staff said some data and operational details remain in progress.
Committee reaction and next steps: Lawmakers asked for more granular nonrenewal and credit‑score impact data and discussed possible mitigation grant programs and model statutory language for rate and score transparency. The committee asked staff to coordinate with CSI to obtain NAIC data outputs and to return with detailed data and policy options at a later meeting.
