FACT SHEET: Iowa’s Home Insurance Crisis
Last Updated: 9/3/25
Climate change is pushing property insurance companies to raise rates and cancel policies in Iowa. Between 2019 and 2024, home insurance rates in the Hawkeye State increased by 61%, and the non-renewal rate increased by 116% between 2020 and 2023. The growing risk of storms in the state is a major driver of Iowa’s home insurance crisis. Trump’s cuts to emergency preparedness and response, alongside his far-reaching tariffs, will make Iowa’s home insurance crisis even worse.
- IOWA’S HOME INSURANCE RATES HAVE SOARED IN RECENT YEARS, AND COSTS CONTINUE TO GROW
- INSURERS ARE REFUSING TO RENEW HOMEOWNERS’ POLICIES OR ARE PULLING OUT OF IOWA’S INSURANCE MARKET ALTOGETHER
- CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXTREME WEATHER ARE DRIVING IOWA’S INSURANCE CRISIS
- TRUMP WILL MAKE IOWA’S INSURANCE CRISIS EVEN WORSE
IOWA’S HOME INSURANCE RATES HAVE SOARED IN RECENT YEARS, AND COSTS CONTINUE TO GROW
- Between 2019 and 2024, home insurance rates in Iowa increased by 61%, placing the state among the top 10 for rate increases. In 2024 alone, home insurance rates in Iowa increased by 18%.
- From October 2023 to 2024, home insurance premiums in Iowa increased 14% to an average of $2,416.
- Iowa was projected to see insurance rate increases in 2025, with the average annual premium expected to increase by $624, or 19%.
INSURERS ARE REFUSING TO RENEW HOMEOWNERS’ POLICIES OR ARE PULLING OUT OF IOWA’S INSURANCE MARKET ALTOGETHER
- From 2020 to 2023, the home insurance nonrenewal rate in Iowa increased by 116%.
- From 2020 to 2023, the number of home insurance policy nonrenewals in Iowa more than doubled from 1,987 to 4,151.
- In 2023, Celina Insurance Group left the Iowa home insurance market due to climate change.
- In 2024, Pekin Insurance said it had paused writing homeowner insurance policies in Iowa due to the increased severity and frequency of storms, and it dropped all of its 40,000 Iowa customers.
- In 2024, Secura Insurance began dropping Iowa homeowners due to increasingly erratic weather.
- A 2025 report found that 13% of Iowa homes were uninsured, 122,329 total.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXTREME WEATHER ARE DRIVING IOWA’S INSURANCE CRISIS
- Since 2000, wind and hail storms have become more damaging across the Midwest, including Iowa. In 2025, severe thunderstorms were hiking home insurance premiums across Iowa and the Midwest.
- Between 2022 and 2023, the number of hailstorms in Iowa increased by 133%, contributing to property damage and higher insurance rates.
- In 2024, Pekin Insurance said severe weather was making it unprofitable for it to successfully operate in Iowa.
- In 2024, home insurance rates in Iowa increased by an average of double digits due to persistent damage from derechos.
- As of 2025, reinsurers, companies that insure home insurance providers, were increasingly reluctant to cover Iowa due to repeated high-cost weather events.
TRUMP WILL MAKE IOWA’S INSURANCE CRISIS EVEN WORSE
- Trump’s tariffs were expected to increase home insurance costs in Iowa by $115.
- Tariffs were expected to slow down disaster recovery efforts and make them more expensive. The National Association of Home Builders estimates a cost increase of $10,900 per home due to tariffs on construction materials.
- Trump’s cuts to disaster relief at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and attempts to disband FEMA would also increase the cost of home insurance.
- FEMA also administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides coverage for more than 4.7 million homeowners who otherwise could not obtain coverage.