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Residents hundreds and thousands of miles away may be impacted by the wildfires tearing across Los Angeles as the disaster threatens to make the home insurance crisis worse, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The wildfires are estimated to have caused insured losses of as much as $20 billion or more. Hurricanes Milton and Helene inflicted insured losses approaching $50 billion.
While rates tend to increase in regions where disasters strike, researchers say the scale of losses leads companies to reach to faraway customers to help recoup their money.
A Harvard Business School study found that expensive disasters in some parts of the country affect insurance rates in others, as insurers bump up premiums for homeowners in unaffected regions to help cover big losses.
“It’s spread all over the country, and it spreads in a disproportionate way, where some people are bearing an overwhelmingly higher cost,” says Ishita Sen, a co-author of the study and a Harvard finance professor.
