Viewpoint: Legislature must address high cost of home insurance

Michael DeLong

Nobody likes paying their homeowners insurance premium—especially when your premium gets hiked suddenly, without any explanation.

Even worse is when your insurance company declines to renew your policy, leaving you without coverage and on the hook for any damage to your home. And even worse is if you can’t get homeowners insurance at all, because the companies have pulled out of your neighborhood or are charging such outrageously high premiums that it’s effectively extortion.

But Montana legislators can do something about this. This week, they are meeting to consider several different studies—and their top priority should be a study on homeowners insurance in Montana. This study would look at why costs are going up and where the problem is most serious, and long-term strategies to bring down costs and help consumers. The study was required by HJ 61, a resolution that was passed by the Legislature earlier this year, and it is supposed to be finished by September 15th, 2026.

And this study is badly needed. Right now there is very little hard information about Montana’s homeowners insurance market, leading to a huge gap. Insurance companies make very little data available, and what you can get is minimal, not very specific, and years out of date by the time you get it.

A report by the Federal Insurance Office earlier this year showed that it is becoming more costly and more difficult to obtain insurance, and that homeowners insurance rates are increasing significantly faster than inflation. Insurance companies are bearing higher costs in ZIP codes with higher risks, like wildfires, and those costs are destabilizing insurance markets.

This report was helpful, but the raw data were not released for additional research, the information was limited, and the data only go through 2022. Worst of all, Montana did not participate in this data call, causing it to lack state-specific information and limiting its usefulness for Montana consumers.

Without information on insurance costs, policymakers are currently trying to solve the insurance crisis without the facts they need to evaluate the problem and come up with solutions. This study would fill that gap by evaluating the insurance crisis and its impact on people’s rates, as well as develop recommendations to bring down costs and help consumers.

Montanans—both policymakers and the general public—need additional information and fair, independent analysis of homeowners insurance. Premiums have become so expensive in Montana that it is harming people’s ability to own a home or run a business. And the study should include information on all types of homeowners insurance, not just for single family homes, but also condominiums, mobile and manufactured homes, and renters insurance.

Earlier this year, State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner James Brown commented that “the number one issue that people talked to me about during my campaign was the rising cost of insurance in Montana and across the country.” He also offered advice for consumers on how to protect their home in the face of rising insurance costs and wildfire risks, and stated that he championed several bills to make insurance more fair and affordable, including HJ 61.

We applaud Commissioner Brown for his support of HJ 61. We encourage him to start his own data call to collect information on homeowners insurance and inform the public of possible solutions. Earlier this year Idaho Director Dean Cameron announced he was collecting detailed information to analyze Idaho’s homeowners insurance market and protect consumers.

A similar data call in Montana would help inform homeowners about insurance costs and other problems, and help legislators with their report on property insurance. Commissioner Brown should conduct a data call on homeowners insurance intended to help this insurance study, which will greatly benefit from his and the Department’s involvement and expertise. We urge our readers to contact Commissioner Brown and the Economic Affairs Legislative Committee, and encourage them to collect this information.

By conducting a complete and transparent study on insurance costs, the Montana Legislature can get better information on rising insurance premiums and non-renewals, inform consumers, and develop strong long-term strategies that will bring down costs.

Michael DeLong is a Research and Advocacy Associate with the Consumer Federation of America, an association of over 200 consumer groups that promotes consumer interests through research, advocacy, and education.