Southwest Minneapolis Insurance Fairness Forum with Sen. Mohamed & Rep. Greenman
A silent home insurance crisis is placing at risk our fundamental ability to own a home. Driven by a perfect storm of economic and climate disruptions, the costs of homeownership and home insurance are rising, making it harder and harder for people to find stable housing. Rising homeowners insurance prices are fueling a severe housing affordability crisis, placing a heavy burden on seniors, first-time homebuyers, and low-income families.
We need your help to bring this issue to the attention of our legislators.
We need legislative and policy solutions to address the compounding factors making homeownership more expensive and less accessible, including:
- Skyrocketing Rebuilding Costs: Inflation has driven up the price of building materials and labor, making it far more expensive to repair or rebuild damaged homes.
- Escalating Climate Risks: More frequent and severe natural disasters have triggered a surge in claims. This forces insurance companies to pay more for their own backup coverage (reinsurance)—costs they pass directly to consumers.
- The Credit Score Penalty: Home insurance companies often penalize low-income individuals for systemic economic stress rather than actual property risk. Homeowners with lower credit scores pay an average of $4,112 per year for insurance, compared to $2,116 for those with high credit.
- A Double Burden: Low-income families frequently face higher insurance rates relative to their home’s total value, often because they own older properties that require more costly maintenance.
- Severe Cost Strains: Insurance premiums now consume a vastly larger share of monthly housing budgets than they did just a decade ago.
- The Risk of Ruin: With fewer financial safety nets to absorb sudden rate hikes, families are trapped in an impossible position. Dropping coverage leaves them just one storm away from losing their entire home equity. Keeping an unaffordable policy forces devastating trade-offs between housing and basic human needs like food and medicine.
At MNIPL we believe housing stability is a fundamental right, part of our commitment to healing our relationships with the earth and with each other.
Please join us for a conversation with Sen. Zaynab Mohamed and Rep. Emma Greenman to get involved and use your voice to demand that legislators end unfair insurance penalties and protect vulnerable homeowners.