"A little over a year ago, Peter Gardner, a Louisiana developer, completed rehabbing an apartment building with 144 units and got a surprise so ugly it made him decide to move his business out of town.
When the project began, his broker estimated the annual cost of insuring it would be $75,000. But by the time Gardner finished it, the insurance cost had risen to $175,000. He paid it, but when he went to renew the policy this past July, he got another shock. The broker now said it was $275,000. An alternative broker could only find policies over $300,000 per year.
Gardner bought his first house for renovation in New Orleans in 1999 when he was still in college. Over the years, he’s tackled roughly 100 projects. He currently owns about 400 apartments that he rents. He survived the downturn after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but now the market impacts of climate change have become so inexorable that he sees no choice but to start again in another city to the north."
Leslie Kaufman reports for Bloomberg Green September 11, 2023.
SEE ALSO:
"Home Insurers Cut Natural Disasters From Policies As Climate Risks Grow" (Washington Post)
"How Climate Change Could Cause A Home Insurance Meltdown" (NPR)
"Property Insurance Disappears For Louisianans – But Not For Gas Facilities" (Floodlight)
"Climate Change and U.S. Property Insurance: A Stormy Mix" (Foreign Affairs)
"Louisiana’s insurance market is in crisis. New head says less regulation is the answer" (WWNO/WRKF)
"As Climate Change Challenges Home Insurers, An ‘Uninsurable Future’ Looms" (Los Angeles Times)
"California Tries For A Different Path Than Florida On Insurance" (Politico)
"Senators Take Up Looming Insurance Crisis As Policy Issuers Flee Florida And California" (CNBC)
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