The Numbers Behind the Denials
The five largest home insurance companies in the country, Allstate, State Farm, Liberty Mutual, USAA and Farmers, collectively declined to pay out on more than 44 percent of the homeowner claims filed against them in 2025, according to a new analysis published by U.S. News & World Report, which drew on claims data first compiled in a Wall Street Journal review of the industry. A decade earlier, the share of claims closed without payment sat closer to 36 percent.
That shift matters because it is happening at the same time premiums have climbed and severe weather events have grown more frequent and more expensive to repair. The analysis found the gap between the five biggest insurers and smaller carriers is widening: Erie Insurance, a regional company, actually paid out on a larger share of claims than it did ten years ago.
Where the Nonpayments Are Concentrated
The denial rate is not evenly distributed across the country. In Florida, more than two in five homeowners who filed a claim after the string of hurricanes that hit the state received no payout, the analysis found. Texas and California also showed elevated nonpayment rates, driven respectively by hail and flood damage and by wildfire and mudslide claims. An ongoing NBC News investigation into insurance denials has documented similar patterns nationally.
What a Denial Looks Like Up Close
That national pattern played out for one Michigan family earlier this year. According to reporting from Local 4 News in Detroit, the Woodruff family had their $38,000 claim for a burst-pipe disaster at their late father’s cottage denied by AAA, which said the family had failed to take reasonable precautions during a January cold snap that hit minus 25 degrees. After the family’s case drew media scrutiny, AAA reviewed the claim again and reversed course.
Not every denied homeowner gets that second look. Consumer advocates say the surest way to avoid becoming a statistic is to document a home’s condition and maintenance before disaster strikes, keep detailed records of any communication with an insurer, and be prepared to appeal a denial in writing rather than accept it as final.
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