Property insurers report the worst first-quarter profits in more than 20 years

Ryan Kailath May 2, 2017
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Property insurers report the worst first-quarter profits in more than 20 years

Ryan Kailath May 2, 2017
HTML EMBED:
COPY

When you buy insurance for your car or your house, you and your insurance company hope you’ll never have to use it. Well, not so much in 2017. Property insurers are reporting the worst first-quarter profits in more than 20 years.  You can blame hailstorms, ice storms, tornadoes—the kind of severe weather that contributes to the fact that billion-dollar disasters are becoming more common. In an average year, over the last few decades, insurance companies would’ve shelled out roughly $4.5 billion for weather damage by now.  But this year, so far, the damage is more like $6 billion. 

Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.