Overview
- A Wall Street Journal analysis published in late May found the five largest U.S. home insurers closed more than 44% of resolved claims in 2025 without paying policyholders, up from about 36% a decade earlier.
- The analysis named Allstate, Farmers, Liberty Mutual, State Farm and USAA and reported company-specific nonpayment rates of roughly 52% at Farmers, 51% at USAA, 47% at Allstate, 41% at Liberty Mutual and 31% at State Farm.
- Insurers and analysts point to higher deductibles and changes in policy design as a key cause because some deductibles now target specific perils or are set as a percentage of home value which raises the threshold for payment.
- The companies blamed multibillion-dollar catastrophe years for the shift and some pockets of unpaid claims reflect damage below deductibles or claims withdrawn by customers, a dynamic highlighted by tens of thousands of declined payouts after Hurricane Milton.
- The trend is raising affordability pressures for homeowners as national average premiums climb and some smaller insurers buck the pattern by paying a larger share of claims than they did a decade ago, a development that could reshape where consumers shop for coverage.