Letter to Federal Insurance Office on Release of Climate-Related Financial Risk Data
Federal Insurance Office Climate-Related Financial Risk Data Letter
December 13, 2024
Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20220
Re: Federal Insurance Office Climate-Related Financial Risk Data
Dear Secretary Yellen and Director Seitz,
On behalf of the undersigned consumer protection, climate, and housing justice organizations, we urge you to swiftly publish data and analysis from the property and casualty market intelligence data call on the impact of climate change on insurance affordability. As the costs of the climate crisis are mounting, rising insurance prices and retreating insurance companies is creating an affordability crisis that threatens Americans’ homes, life savings, and the economies of already vulnerable regions. Given the speed at which an insurance crisis is unfolding, comprehensive national data and analysis must be an urgent priority.
Communities across the country are already experiencing the impacts of rising insurance costs and withdrawal. Due to the disproportionate exposure to wildfires and flooding, low-income communities and communities of color are particularly at risk from insurance hikes and withdrawals. Yet the current absence of publicly available data on insurance premiums and claims impedes regulators, municipalities, researchers, and community organizations from monitoring trends, assessing economic impacts, providing analysis, and proposing solutions.
While the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners have taken an important step by collecting data, public data and analysis are necessary to evaluate the full scale of the crisis and ensure all relevant actors can understand and act accordingly to mitigate the risk in their jurisdiction. The Federal Insurance Office was created specifically to fill a gap in the state-based regulation system by collecting and analyzing data. With a mandate to monitor the potential for systemic risks and impacts on marginalized communities, analysis from FIO is crucial to highlight emerging trends. We urge FIO to publish as much data in the most granular form that meets FIO’s statutory mandates and publish an initial analysis of data on property insurance.
Sincerely,
Public Citizen
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund
Campax
Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas
Connecticut Citizen Action Group
Consumer Federation of America
Consumer Federation of California
Consumer Watchdog
CT Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice
Emergency Legal Responders
Environmental Defense Fund
Extreme Weather Survivors
Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana
For a Better Bayou
Habitat Recovery Project
Little Tokyo Service Center
MA Affordable Homeownership Alliance
MARBE SA
Mothers Rise Up
National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders
National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development
National Community Reinvestment Coalition
National Fair Housing Alliance
New York Communities for Change
Oil and Gas Action Network
Rebuild by Design
Revolving Door Project
Rise Economy
Sierra Club
The Center for NYC Neighborhoods, Inc.
Third Act
Third Act NYC
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Union of Concerned Scientists
Waterkeeper Alliance
Youth Climate Finance Alliance