• Home insurance premiums are rising across the U.S., including a 23% increase in Ohio between 2021 and 2024.
• The rise in tornadoes and other severe weather events in Ohio contributes to these increasing insurance costs.
• Homeowners can mitigate rising costs by shopping for different coverage options and making preventative home improvements.

More tornadoes and severe weather may translate to pricier home insurance for central Ohioans —but there are things homeowners can do to curb rising costs.

Across the United States, annual insurance premiums for typical homeowners increased by an average of $648, or 24%, from 2021 through 2024, according to a report released in April by the Consumer Federation of America, a national nonprofit established in 1968 to advance consumer interests through research, advocacy and education. In Ohio, premiums increased 23% in that same time period while in Columbus they rose by 16%, the report shows.

In large part, the rise was driven by more frequent storms doing more damage throughout the country and not just in areas often hit by hurricanes or wildfires, said Sharon Cornelissen, director of housing at the Consumer Federation of America. And while it may appear that worse weather has spared some states, Cornelissen said that won’t always be the case.

“Florida is just the canary in the coal mine. Price pressures continue to rise and we’re seeing more and more disasters happening all over the country,” Cornelissen said. “No state is a climate haven. There is no such thing.”

In 2024 alone, Ohio saw 82 tornadoes, which put the state at 10th in the nation for the most twisters that year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The year’s total was the highest number of tornadoes Ohio has seen since at least 1950, the earliest year for which data exists on the NOAA website.

A number of tornadoes touched down in central Ohio and in the Indian Lake area about 75 miles north of Columbus in March 2024. Last year’s twisters came five years after a 2019 tornado leveled homes across the City of Dayton and several of its suburbs.

The tornadoes, coupled with damaging rain, flooding and hail can all drive up the price of coverage as insurers are are forced to pay for more repairs or entire home replacements, said Mark Friedlander, director of corporate communications at the Pennsylvania-based Insurance Information Institute.

In fact, insured losses from U.S. natural disasters exceeded $100 billion in 2024 for the third time in at least four years, he said.

“If you’re in kind of the same category as tornado alley, that’s a lot of activity… if it was not a historic level of tornadoes, it was pretty close,” Friedlander said of Ohio in 2024. “When you’re seeing a large volume of loss like that, insurers are going to take that into account when they’re determining rates.”

Central Ohioans who have seen their insurance costs rise more than they can afford should shop around for coverage, Friedlander said. Ohio, which is home to Nationwide Insurance and Grange in Columbus and Progressive in the northeast part of the state, has a strong insurance market and plenty of local and national options, Friedlander said.

Even if homeowners can afford their plan’s price increase, Friedlander said they should check in with an agent every year to ensure their policy still has an adequate level of coverage to cover the total loss of a house.

For homeowners who want to get even more proactive, Friedlander said some insurance companies will also work with clients to take preventative measures and potentially lower their insurance costs.

Roofs and windows, for example, are one of the most vulnerable parts of homes in the path of strong winds or tornadoes, Friedlander said.

But, Friedlander said homeowners can have the connections between the walls and roof of their houses strengthened so they don’t get blown away as easily. Upgrading windows with stronger glass, a common practice in areas where hurricanes are more likely, could also be a way to lower the cost of home insurance, Friedlander said.

Reinforcing a roof or replacing windows, however, can be costly and not an expense every homeowner can easily afford, Cornelissen said.

Instead, Cornelissen suggested states consider creating grant programs to help fund such home improvements or explore the idea of offering zero interest loans to homeowners who are interested in fortifying their roofs and windows. There also needs to be more information made public on why insurers are increasing premiums or denying coverage to some homeowners so that researchers can asses what’s going on.

If nothing is done, Cornelissen argued that rising insurance prices will prove to be unsustainable for most homeowners in the long run.

“This will price more people out of homeownership,” Cornelissen said. “Pretty much no ZIP code is escaping this fate… This is a call to action.”

Dispatch investigative reporter Max Filby can be reached by email at mfilby@dispatch.com. Find him on X at the handle @MaxFilby or on Facebook at @ReporterMaxFilby.