Insurers hike rates as extreme storms like Beryl proliferate, bringing forecasts for fatter profits

AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Destructive storms like Hurricane Beryl that knocked out power to 3 million homes and businesses in Texas are growing more frequent and intense, and insurers are jacking up rates in response. That could mean big profits for property and casualty insurers like Allstate and Progressive in the coming year. The U.S. experienced 28 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2023, the most ever, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Rate hikes have been a way for property insurers to offset the cost of those catastrophic events. Hurricanes account for most insured catastrophe losses, according to CFRA.