How many property insurance claims are filed each year?
About 1 in 18 insured U.S. homes files a claim in any given year. That is the short answer behind every frequency figure below, measured by ISO from homeowners multiple peril policies.
1 in 18 Each year about one in eighteen insured homes has a claim. (Insurance Information Institute calculation from ISO data, 2018-2022 basis. Source)
What is the average homeowners claim payout?
The average 2022 homeowners claim paid $18,311. Payouts vary enormously by cause: fire claims average nearly $84,000 while theft averages about $5,000.
$18,311 The average 2022 homeowners claim paid $18,311. (ISO, a Verisk business, via Insurance Information Institute, 2022. Source)
$15,749 Across five years the average claim paid about $15,749. (ISO, a Verisk business, via Insurance Information Institute, 2018-2022. Source)
$83,991 Fire and lightning claims average nearly $84,000, the costliest cause per claim. (ISO, a Verisk business, via Insurance Information Institute, 2018-2022 avg. Source)
$13,954 Water damage and freezing claims average just under $14,000. (ISO, a Verisk business, via Insurance Information Institute, 2018-2022 avg. Source)
$13,511 Wind and hail claims average about $13,500, the most common but mid cost cause. (ISO, a Verisk business, via Insurance Information Institute, 2018-2022 avg. Source)
$5,024 Theft claims average about $5,000, the smallest property payout. (ISO, a Verisk business, via Insurance Information Institute, 2018-2022 avg. Source)
$31,690 Bodily injury and property damage liability claims average nearly $32,000. (ISO, a Verisk business, via Insurance Information Institute, 2018-2022 avg. Source)
What causes most homeowners insurance claims?
Wind and hail cause the most claims by far at 40.7% of 2022 filings, followed by water damage at 27.6% and fire and lightning at 21.9%. Nearly 98 in 100 claims are property damage rather than liability.
How much do natural disasters cost insurers annually?
Twenty three billion dollar U.S. climate disasters caused about $115 billion in damage in 2025, the third highest year on record. The January Los Angeles wildfires alone cost an estimated $61.2 billion.
23 The U.S. saw 23 separate billion dollar climate disasters in 2025. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, citing Climate Central 2025 in Review, 2025; estimate. Source)
$115B Those 23 disasters caused about $115 billion in damage. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, citing Climate Central 2025 in Review, 2025; estimate. Source)
$61.2B The Palisades and Eaton fires cost over half of all 2025 disaster damage. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, citing Climate Central 2025 in Review, 2025; estimate. Source)
+76.8% Fire claim costs rose more than three quarters year over year. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2026 U.S. Home Trends Report, 2025. Source)
$11B A March central U.S. tornado outbreak was the second costliest 2025 event. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, citing Climate Central 2025 in Review, 2025; estimate. Source)
Are claims getting more expensive?
Yes. All peril severity hit an all time high in 2025, up 25.9% in one year and 93.2% since 2019, while frequency fell 23.8%. Fewer claims, far costlier claims is the defining trend in the data.
+25.9% The average cost per claim rose nearly 26% in a single year. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2026 U.S. Home Trends Report, 2025. Source)
+93.2% The average cost per claim nearly doubled since 2019. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2026 U.S. Home Trends Report, 2019-2025. Source)
-23.8% The number of claims fell by nearly a quarter while each claim cost more. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2026 U.S. Home Trends Report, 2025. Source)
+50.0% Total claim costs run 50% hotter than 2019 despite fewer claims. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2026 U.S. Home Trends Report, 2025 vs 2019. Source)
+63.2% Non weather water claim severity rose almost two thirds since 2019. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2026 U.S. Home Trends Report, 2019-2025. Source)
+12.8% Liability claim severity rose nearly 13% in one year. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2026 U.S. Home Trends Report, 2025. Source)
-50.4% Wind claim costs halved year over year on fewer catastrophe claims. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2026 U.S. Home Trends Report, 2025. Source)
-38.4% Hail costs fell nearly 40% from the 2023 seven year high. (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2026 U.S. Home Trends Report, 2025 vs 2023. Source)
What do homeowners pay for insurance?
The average U.S. homeowners premium was $1,411 in 2021, up 7.6% in a year, with Florida highest at $2,437. Insurers still lost money on underwriting: the 2023 combined ratio was 110.9%.
110.9% Insurers paid out $1.11 for every $1 of premium, an underwriting loss. (NAIC data via S&P Global and III, 2023. Source)
2.7M FAIR and beach plans covered 2.7 million policies with over $1 trillion in exposure. (Property Insurance Plans Service Office, via III, FY2023. Source)
How are public adjuster fees regulated by state?
Fee caps are state law, not negotiation lore. Texas generally limits commissions to 10% of the settlement, Florida allows 20% outside emergencies, and several launch states restrict upfront payment or solicitation outright. Confirm current statute text before signing anything.
| State | Cap | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 10% of settlement | Tex. Ins. Code 4102.104 |
| Florida | 20%, 10% after emergency | Fla. Stat. 626.854 |
| North Carolina | 10% | N.C. Gen. Stat. 58-33A-60 |
| California | No statutory cap | Cal. Ins. Code 15027 |
| Louisiana | Fee method restricted | La. R.S. 22:1703 |
| Colorado | No upfront payment | Colo. Rev. Stat. 10-2-417(4) |
Sourced from AdjusterAlly state pages, each citing its statute verbatim with a checked date. Texas: 72 hour policy limit rule can bar percentage fees (Tex. Ins. Code 4102.104(b)). Colorado: no fee before settlement (Colo. Rev. Stat. 10-2-417(4)). Louisiana: percentage of claim payment barred (La. R.S. 22:1703).
How long does a typical property claim take to settle?
There is no clean national series for average settlement time, so this page states handling rules instead of inventing an average. Insurer handling deadlines are state law and a useful ceiling for what prompt looks like.
TODO: no primary national average found. Search: NAIC Market Conduct Annual Statement claim closure aging, state DOI complaint ratio closure data, Texas Insurance Code Chapter 542 timelines (acknowledge and decide within 15 days, pay within 5 business days of acceptance, with catastrophe extensions).
How often are property claims denied or underpaid?
No regulator publishes a national denial rate for homeowners claims, so this page does not quote one. The closest measured context is claims closed without payment, which III notes happens for legitimate reasons including deductibles, uncovered losses, duplicates, and investigations finding no payment owed.
TODO: no primary denial rate found. Search: NAIC Homeowners Market Data Call public report (targeted early 2027), state DOI closed complaint disposition data, III closed without payment methodology statement.
What share of claimants use a public adjuster?
No government or industry series tracks what share of claimants hire a public adjuster. Any number you see quoted elsewhere without a methodology is an estimate at best.
TODO: no primary source found. Search: state DOI adjuster licensee counts vs claim counts (a ceiling, not a share), AP CIA or NAMIC member surveys, original AdjusterAlly survey of matched claimants as a future primary source.
Methodology
Figures labeled ISO or NAIC are measured administrative data. Figures labeled LexisNexis are an industry study of carrier contributed data. Disaster dollar totals are estimates attributed to Climate Central via LexisNexis. Fee caps are AdjusterAlly verified statute excerpts with checked dates on each state page. Nothing on this page comes from another stats roundup. Last updated September 13, 2026. Next scheduled review January 2027.