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Health & Safety, Market Conditions

Pet Insurance: A Growing, Diversifying Line

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By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I

Pet ownership in the United States has steadily grown in recent decades, climbing to 95 million households with at least one pet in 2025, according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA). Alongside the rise in ownership, the APPA projects $165 billion being spent on pet care in 2026 alone, continuing a trend of rising pet industry expenditures since 2018.

But from unexpected veterinary costs to greater liability concerns, pet companionship introduces a range of new risks. Triple-I’s latest Issues Brief identifies steps pet owners can take to keep their pets safe and healthy, which a growing market of property/casualty and specialty insurers are helping facilitate through pet insurance.

Reported and tracked as its own business line as of 2024, the pet insurance market has expanded by more than 10 percent every year since 2018, based on Triple-I analysis of S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Direct premiums written last year also hit a record high at $5.47 billion, with most of the largest insurers experiencing double-digit premium growth in 2025.

Despite growth, however, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association reported that fewer than 4 percent of pets are insured, suggesting many pet owners remain unaware of available coverage options or of the long-term value these protections can ensure.

Meeting individual pet needs

While policies vary, pet insurance typically covers only accidents (encompassing injuries, such as broken bones) or both accidents and illnesses (such as infections and cancer). Many insurance plans include hereditary and congenital condition coverage for policies in force. Plans are priced based on risk factors like age, gender, and breed.

Though most pet insurers exclude pre-existing health conditions from coverage, some will no longer assess a condition as preexisting if the condition is curable and the pet is symptom-free for some period, typically ranging from 180 to 365 days. Separate pet wellness plans can also cover preventive health care, including vaccinations and annual exams.

Unlike property/casualty coverages, most pet insurance policies work on a reimbursement basis, meaning policyholders must pay up front for services and then submit a claim to their insurer. Only once claims are submitted can the insurer pay for some or all of the service by reimbursing the policyholder.

Beyond alleviating the immediate burden of veterinary prices – which can amount to tens of thousands of dollars over a pet’s lifetime, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association – insurance can help owners keep their pets healthy longer, mitigating greater costs as the pet ages.

As coverage options continue to expand, pet insurance has evolved into a more flexible and comprehensive product, making it important for pet owners to compare policies carefully and understand how coverage, reimbursement, and exclusions work. Reviewing these options with an insurance professional can help pet owners decide what works best for their unique pet.

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Catastrophes, Coastal Property, Disaster Preparedness, Disaster Resilience, Hurricane, Regulation, Risk-Based Pricing

N.Y. Natural Catastrophe Exposure Highlights
Risk-Based Pricing Benefit

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By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I

New York may be less exposed to frequent natural catastrophes than states like Florida or California, but it is far from immune to massive catastrophe losses.

A recent white paper by risk modeler Karen Clark & Co (KCC) cautions against underestimating the Empire State’s vulnerability – or that of other states not typically identified with large-scale natural disasters. A future 1-in-100-year hurricane event in New York could cost insurers more than $100 billion, KCC reported, with a 1-in-250-year event potentially costing twice as much.

“Beyond hurricanes, New York also experiences substantial impacts from both severe convective storms and winter storms, which together generate almost $1 billion in average annual property losses in the state,” KCC notes.

As state lawmakers consider strengthening requirements for prior approval of premium rate increases to rein in rising costs, KCC suggests that cost reduction strategies that account for these potential impacts would help ensure “property insurance remains both available and affordable.”

Underlying cost drivers

New York is exposed to nearly $9 trillion in potential insured losses, $6 trillion of which is concentrated along the coast. Contributing factors include property location and associated rebuilding costs, demonstrating, in part, demographic shifts placing more people in harm’s way, KCC said.

“Even if rates remain constant, premiums will rise over time to reflect the increasing cost of construction,” the report said. It added that such costs for an average single-family home have doubled over the past decade.

With trillions in loss exposure, the state faces outsized impacts, even from less intense storms. For instance, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 – despite making landfall in New Jersey as a Category 1 storm – generated almost $10 billion in insured losses in New York. Based on current exposure, insured losses in New York would exceed $13 billion, with total losses climbing to $31 billion.

A Category 3 hurricane that made landfall in the state in 1938 would produce more than $20 billion in insured losses today, KCC said. The state’s “worst-case scenario,” however, is if a similar storm hit close to Rockaway Beach in New York City, as losses in the hundreds of billions would ripple through “the most populated areas of the state.”

Sustaining market health

In testimony to the New York State Senate in November 2025, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) estimated that such an event “would wipe out 69 years of homeowners’ insurance return on net worth. ” APCIA noted that New York State is second only to Miami in vulnerability to a hurricane exceeding $100 billion in losses.

At the same state senate hearing, Triple-I Chief Insurance Officer Patrick Schmid testified on market adjustments insurers made in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, such as updating rates and establishing reserves for Sandy-related claims that extended beyond the year of impact.

These changes have allowed state homeowners’ insurance premiums to remain “relatively average and reasonable as a percentage of household income,” contradicting “the narrative of an affordability crisis in New York’s homeowners’ insurance market,” Schmid explained.

“In other words, the ‘profitable decade’ reflects a market that learned from a major catastrophic event and adjusted accordingly,” Schmid said. “This is how insurance markets should function.”

Importance of risk-based pricing

Insurance pricing must reflect increased risks to maintain policyholder surplus, or the funds regulators require insurers to keep on hand to pay claims. Regulatory constraints on risk-based pricing in some states have forced insurers to write fewer policies or withdraw from state markets entirely, leading to less affordable and available coverage.

Unlike its homeowners’ market, New York’s auto expenditures rank among the highest in the country, driven by repair costs as well as accident frequency and fraud, according to a Triple-I Outlook. Proposals to give New York regulators the authority to block auto premium rate changes could erode surplus and further push insurers to rethink their risk appetite in the state, which already imposes a restrictive “excess profit” law.

The role of profit in insurance pricing is not merely to reward insurers for the risks they assume. As KCC puts it, profit is “the mechanism through which insurers compensate capital providers for risk.” Rather than intervene in insurance markets, policymakers should aim to provide “a regulatory environment that allows insurers flexibility to set adequate rates.”

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Cyber Risk, Insurers and the Economy, Legal Environment, Technology

Cyber Claim Severity Surges as AI, Litigation Accelerate Risk

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By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I

Despite a 34 percent decline in cyber insurance claim frequency for large U.S. businesses in 2025, average claim severity doubled to more than $4.4 million, according to Chubb’s 2026 Cyber Claims Report. Though AI-driven detection systems helped stabilize claim frequency across several global markets, advanced cyberattacks – alongside liability litigation challenges – ranked among the top cost drivers.

Drawing on historical claims data, the report explained how bad actors have begun leveraging AI for increasingly sophisticated attacks capable of “compromising multiple systems in a matter of minutes,” including large-scale incidents that involve minimal human oversight. Data-breach claims alone exceeded a historic $10.2 million in the U.S., propelled in part by the outsized impact of individual ransomware encounters.

Becoming faster and more difficult to detect, ransomware incidents can propagate across multiple businesses along a supply chain with just one attack, especially as markets become more globally interconnected. One such event in the U.K. led to roughly $568 million in losses for the targeted company but a $1.4 billion loss for the entire supply chain as manufacturing “halted for five weeks across sites in the U.K., Slovakia, Brazil, and China.” Over 5,000 U.K organizations in total were affected, Chubb said.

Consequences of cyber incidents extend beyond these losses, the report noted, as incidents increasingly escalate to legal action, often within days and “irrespective of the size of the entity or any controls perceived to be lacking.” Federal legislation enacted in 1988 to protect physical video privacy has helped lead the trend, as plaintiff attorneys continue to reinterpret the law to apply to modern streaming and social media platforms.

Similar applications of a 1967 statute in California – originally intended to prevent wiretapping – now target businesses that use website technologies such as cookies and tracking pixels, generating thousands of lawsuits in recent years. A bill that would remove these prohibitions for businesses has garnered strong bipartisan support, though faces an uncertain future after stalling in the state legislature last year.

“At a time when affordability is already one of California’s greatest challenges, these lawsuits are quietly making life more expensive for everyone,” wrote Scott Miller, president and CEO of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, for The Fresno Bee. “[SB 690] would restore balance, reduce abusive litigation, and allow small businesses to focus on serving their customers, not defending against opportunistic lawsuits.”

A “growing body of privacy laws” are further “imposing complex, layered obligations for companies that store and/or transfer personal data,” Chubb reported, highlighting new laws in Indiana and Kentucky aimed at implementing stricter opt-in mechanisms for personal information. Companies may struggle to navigate these emerging regulations as privacy and cyber risks continue to evolve, creating compliance concerns and potentially exacerbating losses and broader supply-chain disruptions when cyberattacks occur.

Investing in threat detection, AI governance, and employee cybersecurity education are among the many ways organizations can boost their cyber resilience. A separate Chubb survey also suggests interest in cyber insurance to mitigate these risks is rising. Leaders across lower, core, and upper middle market segments identified cybersecurity and advancing technology as their chief risk concerns, with 47 percent of respondents indicating they were considering adding or increasing cyber coverage.

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Affordability, Auto Insurance, Catastrophes, Homeowners Insurance, Legal Environment

Florida Reforms Drive Benefits for Consumers

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By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I

Legal system reforms targeting fraud and excess litigation in Florida are helping drive renewed underwriting business and lower premium rates for consumers throughout the state, signaling ongoing improvements in the Sunshine State’s insurance market health, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.

Post-reform, nearly 20 new property insurers have entered the Sunshine State and existing carriers have expanded their market share, fueling double-digit growth in direct written premiums for many of the state’s largest insurers in 2025. As policyholders shifted to the private market, policies in force for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. – the state-run insurer of last resort and previously the state’s largest residential insurance writer – dropped by 57.8 percent from 2024.

Premiums for Citizens policyholders fell 43.7 percent, alongside extensive premium reductions for thousands of Florida homeowners and drivers across the property/casualty insurance market. Florida’s top five auto insurance groups, for instance, averaged a more than 6 percent rate reduction through mid-year, accounting for 78 percent of the state’s auto market. These reductions have increased to an average of 8 percent based, on the most recent 2026 regulatory filings.

Claims-related litigation has also plummeted, slashing the market’s defense and cost containment expense ratio to 1.9 percent, S&P reported – a major decline from 8.4 percent in 2022, before the 2022 and 2023 reforms were fully implemented. In dollar terms, 2025 saw $537 million in direct incurred legal defense expenses, down from roughly $792 million the prior year and from $1.6 billion in 2022.

Amid decreasing litigation costs, Florida’s residential property insurers recorded over $2 billion in underwriting gains in 2025, with the state’s homeowners’ market posting its highest net income in more than a decade.

Favorable 2025 results are good news, but it’s important for policyholders and policymakers to remember the sustained, industry-wide reform efforts that underpin Florida’s current stability. Despite their measurable benefits to consumers, the reforms have faced repeated legislative attacks, threatening to undo much of this progress.

Florida’s strong market performance also reflects relatively mild catastrophe activity in 2025, including the absence of any U.S. hurricane landfalls. Though the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season is forecast to be “somewhat below normal,” ongoing caution is essential, as just one significant landfall could threaten recent market growth and leave lasting damage.

Compounding these challenges is Florida’s most severe drought in over 25 years, which has produced nearly 2,000 wildfires in 2026 year-to-date and impacted many areas traditionally considered low risk. With wildfire risks still looming, the shift underscores the dynamic headwinds that imperil the state, necessitating continued legislative support of reforms to keep coverage affordable and available in one of the most complex states to insure.

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Affordability, Auto Insurance, Homeowners Insurance, Insurers and the Economy, Legal Environment

Illinois Bill Would Hurt Insurers and Customers

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By Jeff Dunsavage, Head of Research Publications and Insights

Senate Bill 1486 – currently moving through the Illinois General Assembly – would unnecessarily burden insurers and hurt the customers it is intended to protect.

“The measure would add new regulatory layers that could impede the accurate pricing of risk while doing nothing to address the underlying causes of rising premiums,” Triple-I said in a recently published Policy Brief. “Premiums are increasing at different rates across the country, reflecting a mix of factors that include climate events, shifting populations, rising costs to repair and replace property, and legal system abuse.”

All these factors drive up the number and the cost of claims and, if not properly addressed, could erode the policyholder surplus insurers are required to keep on hand to pay claims. If surplus declines below levels mandated by regulators, insurers must raise rates or rethink their appetite for writing coverage in riskier states.

Neither option is good for consumers.

If affordability is the goal, the most effective path is cost reduction. Illinois leaders should model the behavior of states that are addressing the root causes of rising insurance premiums – not just treating the symptoms.

The brief also points out that both homeowners’ and personal auto insurance in Illinois is more affordable than the U.S. average, when measured as a ratio of average insurance expenditures to median household income.

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Affordability, Insurers and the Economy, Legal Environment

States Take the Lead on Third-Party Litigation Funding Reform

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By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I

The Louisiana Department of Insurance’s new partnership to combat marketing tactics tied to third-party litigation funding (TPLF) is only the latest in a wave of state efforts to limit the practice across the country.

TPLF occurs when outside investors profit from lawsuits by paying for legal costs in exchange for a share of the settlement or judgement if the suit wins. In practice, this incentivizes prolonged and unnecessary cases and can culminate in extreme nuclear verdicts of $10 million or more.

By partnering with the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and digital intelligence company 4WARN to investigate and raise awareness of these practices, the Louisiana department aims to shield the public “from opportunists who manipulate the claims process to fuel excessive litigation, which is a primary driver of our high insurance costs,” said Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple.

A joint study from NICB and 4WARN reveals that third parties invested an estimated $380 million into online search ads from June 2024 to June 2025, attracting 27.8 million clicks to TPLF-hosted websites in June of last year alone. Some mislead policyholders into believing they are communicating with their insurer to escalate disputes before they talk to the insurance company, the Louisiana insurance department said, reflecting a coordinated online claimant recruitment system designed to promote legal system abuse.

Beyond inflating insurance premiums, TPLF costs each U.S. household more than $600 annually, at $192.79 per individual, in lost earnings and purchasing power, according to a report from the Perryman Group and Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. Another finding suggests direct annual losses associated with TPLF total $35.8 billion as of 2024.

A growing trend

Legislation targeting TPLF reached a record nationwide high last year, including within a package of Georgia reforms that, among other things, requires litigation financiers to register with the state Department of Banking and Finance and prohibits them from influencing case outcomes, such as by making decisions related to settlements or counsel selection. In the wake of these reforms, the Peach State has welcomed a trend of major auto insurance rate reductions and unprecedented dividends for thousands of drivers.

More recently, a new Mississippi law that takes effect July 1 will mandate disclosure of foreign litigation funding to prevent foreign entities from exploiting the U.S. legal system for sensitive information. Utah passed its own bill in March, introducing comparable restrictions.

Legislation that passed a Michigan House committee earlier this month would bar foreign TPLF altogether, as well as require disclosure and registration of all funders in TPLF-backed cases. Similar bans on foreign TPLF have been proposed in Missouri, Tennessee, and Ohio, with bills in the latter two states both passing their state Houses.

Louisiana lawmakers have also introduced legislation to increase TPLF transparency, building on the state’s 2024 law introducing some oversight of foreign TPLF. The proposed bill would further require attorneys to disclose TPLF contracts either within 30 days of being retained as counsel or 30 days of entering a funding agreement, depending on whichever action comes first. Though the bill failed to receive a vote in the state’s previous legislative session, it continues to garner strong bipartisan support.

While Louisiana’s overall premium rates declined in 2025, including a 5.8 percent average decrease in auto premiums, Temple noted in a separate statement that “we should not necessarily expect to see this level of decrease in future years unless we continue to pursue legal reform that addresses the foundational reasons our rates are the highest in the country.”

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Catastrophes, Disaster Preparedness, Disaster Resilience, Homeowners Insurance, Hurricane, Roof Condition, Severe Convective Storm, Tornado, Wind

Mississippi Set to Launch Roof Grant Program

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By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I

Mississippi recently adopted a program that will offer homeowners grants of up to $10,000 for roofs built to the FORTIFIED™ standard, following in the footsteps of states across the country to mitigate the rising frequency and severity of extreme weather.

Developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), the FORTIFIED™ standard can help reduce high wind and hail damage through construction methods like sealing roof decks and anchoring roofs to wall framing using stronger nails. While such standards remain voluntary, many insurers in Mississippi began providing premium discounts for homes that meet the designation, prompting state lawmakers to further incentivize their construction.

The Magnolia State is only the latest to follow Alabama’s lead, which largely pioneered these incentives through its own Strengthen Alabama Homes program, financed by the insurance industry with more than $86 million in grants since 2016. Designed to enhance community resiliency while also lowering insurance rates, completed retrofits earn residents premium discounts ranging from 25 to 55 percent.

Slated to begin accepting applications later this year, Strengthen Mississippi Homes authorizes the state’s insurance department to allocate $15 million a year towards grants and gives the department flexibility in determining grant eligibility as the program rolls out. More than one thousand homes are expected to qualify each year, including in inland areas and along the coast.

Notably, the new grant program builds on the state’s preexisting hurricane-specific mitigation initiative, in part reflecting growing nationwide vulnerability to other perils. While global insured losses fell below average in the first quarter of 2026, Gallagher Re analysis shows that U.S. convective storms were among the largest loss events, including a March tornado outbreak that killed multiple Mississippi residents and caused upwards of a billion dollars in insured damages throughout the Midwestern and Eastern U.S.

Mississippi ranked fourth in the nation for tornado frequency in 2025, at 111 tornadoes, according to data from the National Weather Service. Currently, it ranks second for such activity, at 48.

Modeling what works

Research from the Alabama Department of Insurance, in collaboration with the University of Alabama Center for Insurance Information and Research, has demonstrated the success of Strengthen Alabama Homes. The study found FORTIFIED homes suffered less property damage and fewer insurance claims than homes built using other construction methods when Hurricane Sally made landfall in the state.

Programs modeled on Alabama’s have sprouted throughout the United States, including in coastal Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Farther inland, Oklahoma just opened its program statewide after three pilot launches last year, and Kentucky unveiled its $5 million program for the first time last month. Similar efforts are underway in Minnesota after the state established a grant program in 2023, with full implementation expected during 2026. Arkansas’ program also remains under development.

Insurers have long called for boosting roof resilience within and beyond hurricane-prone regions. IBHS research estimates 70 to 90 percent of storm-related insurance claims involve roof damage, meaning roof upgrades can substantially minimize losses and improve market stability, keeping insurance affordable and available for more homeowners. In addition to making homes safer, the study revealed FORTIFIED™ homes sell for nearly 7 percent more than similar homes with non-FORTIFIED™ roofs.

Mounting demand suggests such improvements are gaining traction even beyond state grant programs. An unprecedented 20,000-plus designations were issued in 2025 alone, at a 20 percent increase over the prior year, keeping IBHS on track to reach a nationwide total of 120,000 by the end of 2026.

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Industry Financials, Market Conditions

Fire and Allied Lines: Recent Success in a Challenging Market

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By William Nibbelin, Head of Industry Data and Actuarial Research, Triple-I

U.S. fire and allied lines have emerged as a standout performer within the property and casualty (P/C) industry, achieving a net combined ratio of 84.8 in 2024. This marks the lines’ best underwriting performance since 2007 and the third consecutive year they have outperformed the broader P/C industry, according to Triple-I’s latest Issues Brief.

This success is particularly notable given the industry’s five-year streak of underwriting losses between 2017 and 2021. Combined ratio is the most common measure of insurer underwriting profitability. It is calculated by dividing the sum of the claim-related losses and expenses by premium. A ratio over 100 indicates the industry is paying out more than it is taking in.

What are Fire and Allied Lines?

Though often grouped together, fire and allied lines serve distinct purposes:

  • Fire Insurance: Covers direct property damage caused by fire.
  • Allied Lines Insurance: Acts as a broader catch-all, covering damage from other perils, such as wind, water, and vandalism.

Together, they provide property protection comparable to that of a standard homeowners’ policy or commercial multi-peril policy, but without liability coverage. The market for these lines is predominantly commercial, protecting larger risks, such as retail shops, office buildings, warehouses, large farms, and schools. Some businesses with significant large-risk exposure may carry more than one fire and allied lines policy from multiple carriers, known as “stacking.”

Shifts in Market Distribution

The way fire and allied lines policies are sold has changed dramatically over the last decade. Standard insurance policies, which once made up two-thirds of the market, dropped to just under 53 percent in 2024.

In their place, two other segments have gained ground:

  • Excess and Surplus Market: This market, which handles higher-risk or non-standard properties, has grown significantly in market share, from 22 percent to over 36 percent
  • Residual Market: After a period of decline, the residual market (also known as the market of last resort) has grown at an annual rate of over 12 percent since 2020.

Severe Weather Amplifies Loss Trends

Weather has increasingly dictated the performance of both lines in recent years. Allied lines insurance, which covers wind and storm damage, has experienced quarterly loss ratios greater than those of fire insurance in 17 of the past 20 quarters due to mounting severe convective storm and hurricane damage.

Though the frequency of fire and wind incidents is similar across personal and commercial lines, the severity of these losses differs. Commercial policies, which cover larger risk properties like industrial facilities and corporate high-rises, tend to have lower frequency rates but much larger severity losses when a disaster strikes. This discrepancy suggests that while fire and wind incident frequency may be predictable, the high value of commercial assets makes every major claim a significant financial event.

Healthy Competition for Consumers

Despite the challenges posed by natural disasters, the fire and allied lines market remains exceptionally competitive. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice classified the lines both separately and combined as “unconcentrated,” as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), meaning there is no single dominant player stifling competition.

The number of companies writing these policies has either grown or remained flat in every state with Alabama, California, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York among the most competitive markets. This level of competition is a positive sign for the industry’s long-term stability and for business owners seeking diverse coverage options.

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Catastrophes, Disaster Preparedness, Disaster Resilience, Roof Condition, Wildfire

Resilient Post-Wildfire Rebuilding Pays Off

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By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I

Recovery from wildfire devastation takes time, and building back with an eye toward greater resilience is essential. The average timeline for post-disaster reconstruction typically ranges from one to three years. Full economic recovery for communities impacted by the 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles County will likely take decades.

“Rebuilding after disaster requires more than just restoring what was lost,” stressed Janet Ruiz, Triple-I’s California-based communications director. “Take the time to build back stronger and with resilience in mind so your family, home, and community are better protected against ongoing wildfire risk.”

Many homeowners in the affected region are striving to rebuild smarter rather than rushing to replace what was lost, such as through the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home™ program – a voluntary approach that empowers homeowners to reduce wildfire risk to their home and property.

“Spending time with families who lost everything in the Los Angeles wildfires, you feel how heavy every rebuilding decision is,” said Laura Blaul, senior wildfire fellow at the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). “People aren’t just choosing materials, they’re asking, ‘Will this protect my home next time?’ Once homeowners understand how wildfire actually destroys homes – how embers, heat, and flames find their way in – they start asking better questions and making different choices.”

Depending on the project, these choices include investing in fire-rated roofing, ember-resistant vents, noncombustible sliding, and additional features outlined by the program’s Base and Plus Designations. Earning the latter can lead to premium discounts from some insurers, reflecting the program’s “science-backed and practical path” to “making homes more survivable and insurable,” Blaul said.

A painfully slow process

Debris removal and environmental testing before rebuilding began quickly for the communities hit hardest by the Los Angeles fires, but it may require months to years to complete. From there, homeowners must acquire permits to rebuild, which building codes and other regulations can delay. Throughout this process, homeowners and renters will work with their insurers and mortgage lenders to secure payments for damages, adding additional time.

Availability of contractors and building materials can create another bottleneck, especially with thousands of damaged L.A. homes needing immediate attention. Research from Associated Builders and Contractors indicates the construction industry must attract an estimated 349,000 new workers nationwide to keep pace with demand in 2026, suggesting construction backlogs beyond recovering areas will substantially stall rebuilding.

Families and communities benefit

A first-of-its-kind study from the California Department of Insurance and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners revealed that rebuilding L.A. communities to IBHS standards could reduce average wildfire losses by one-third, underscoring the widespread benefits of improved building construction at a property level.

More broadly, a separate report from Milliman, the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and the Western Fire Chiefs Association urges wildfire-prone states to prioritize risk mitigation over reactive fire suppression, particularly within the built environment. Providing a framework to improve resilience statewide, their report highlights strategies to identify and quantify wildfire risk and emphasizes the role of education and outreach to secure buy-in from property owners, community leaders, and other co-beneficiaries of risk reduction.

Resources for homeowners

Residents rebuilding after the fires can find guidance and assistance through:

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Catastrophes, Severe Convective Storm, Tornado, Wind

Illinois Storms Highlight Severe Weather Losses

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By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I

Thunderstorms threatening tornadoes, large hail, and flooding in Illinois this week are just the latest in an outbreak of severe weather within the state this year. As of April 17, the National Weather Service (NWS) has logged more than 300 storm reports for the Prairie State, which currently ranks first for both tornadoes and hail nationwide.

Trailing just behind Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio for severe wind, Illinois leads in severe weather overall with 130 hail events and 61 tornadoes. For comparison, the 25-year average for tornadoes in the state during an entire year is 61 tornadoes, based on final NWS data from 2000 to 2024. An estimated 147 tornadoes impacted the state in 2025 alone, with Illinois ranked second for tornadic activity after Texas.

Much of the damage thus far this year occurred during a series of March outbreaks that tracked through the Midwest, each expected to generate $1 billion or more in insured losses, according to initial estimates from Gallagher Re.

Marked by violent tornadoes, massive hail, and strong straight-line winds, the March 10-12 and March 15-16 storms collectively claimed multiple lives and damaged hundreds of homes and buildings across Illinois and dozens of other states, including major metro areas like Chicago. As such, Gallagher Re projects the direct economic costs of both events will be roughly 25 percent higher than eventual insured losses.

Among the communities hit hardest by the March 10-12 storms was Kankakee County, a suburb about 50 miles south of Chicago. Beyond a powerful EF3 tornado, the area also reported a potentially record-breaking hailstone for the state, observed as larger than the size of a grapefruit.

Surges in convective storm activity during spring and into June are typical, with March historically leading the season every year. Research suggests the severity of these events may rise, however, as hailstorms producing large stones become more common and tornadoes increasingly concentrate in outbreaks of days with multiple twisters.

Climate patterns shifting tornadoes farther east may also be raising the frequency of the peril in states traditionally considered lower risk. Because the Midwestern and Southeastern U.S. are more densely populated than the Plains, the path of individual tornadoes is more likely to cross with urban areas, leaving more people vulnerable and adding to the overall toll of tornadic activity.

Nationally, the NWS has so far this year reported 365 tornadoes, which is approximately 28 above the 1991 to 2020 U.S. tornado average through the end of April. This number is expected to continue rising this month as more rounds of severe storms develop in Illinois and countrywide.

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