This new study suggests Americans are being overcharged for insurance by $150 billion annually

In 2024, for every $1 collected in premiums, insurers reimbursed 62 cents for claims.

Storm clouds form over a public park as thunderstorms approaches the region, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Plano, Texas. [Photo: Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo]

A new analysis suggests Americans are being overcharged by $150 billion annually to insure their homes, autos and businesses — and it proposes federal guardrails so that a public beset by affordability pressures could see savings.The analysis by the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator obtained exclusively by The Associated Press details how insurers are paying out less on claims after an accident, natural disaster or other misfortune than they did decades ago. For every $1 collected in premiums, insurers reimbursed 62 cents for claims in 2024, down from an average loss ratio of 80 cents in the 1980s and 1990s.The analysis wades into a thorny set of economic and political questions as insurance companies are managing the potential risks of climate change when the cost of groceries, gasoline and housing are a frustration for many voters.........

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