Utah Now Tops The Nation With 4.45% Of Homeowner Policies Dropped By Insurers, About 1 In 22, After Ranking 17th Worst A Year Earlier While California Sits Second At 2.93%

If you own a home in Utah, the odds that your insurance company quietly walks away from you just got a lot worse. New figures from Weiss Ratings show Utah now has the highest rate of homeowner policy nonrenewals in the entire country.

Aerial view of a dense residential neighborhood of homes, illustrating homeowners losing insurance coverage.

In 2025, insurers chose not to renew 4.45% of the homeowners policies in force across the state. That works out to about 1 in 22 policyholders getting the dreaded letter.

The analysis, released by Weiss Ratings in a September 2026 press release, is built on 2025 data that insurers reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The nonrenewal rate counts company-initiated nonrenewals against the policies an insurer has in force, so it tracks the cases where the insurer, not the homeowner, ended the relationship.

Utah Leaps From 17th Worst To Number One In Just One Year

The jump is what makes the numbers so striking. Utah ranked 17th worst in 2024, which put it in the middle of the pack. One year later, it sits at the very top of the list.

According to Weiss, the 2025 rate is more than 2.6 times what Utah posted in 2024. Compared with 2018, the rate is 8.4 times higher.

That is not a slow drift. For homeowners who assumed their coverage was a settled matter, it is a fast and expensive change in the ground rules.

“The Nation’s Loudest Alarm Bell” Rings In Utah

Martin D. Weiss, the founder of Weiss Ratings, put it bluntly. “In a very short period of time, Utah has gone from a warning to the nation’s loudest alarm bell,” he said.

He also described what that looks like for ordinary families. A homeowner who has paid premiums faithfully for years, he warned, can suddenly be forced to hunt for replacement coverage.

Anyone who has shopped for insurance in a hurry knows how stressful that can be. A mortgage lender expects proof of coverage, and a gap in that coverage can create real trouble.

California Sits Second At 2.93%

Utah is not alone on the list. California ranked second worst in 2025, with nonrenewals equal to 2.93% of policies in force, or about 1 in 34.

That rate was slightly lower than California’s 2024 figure, but it is still 3.6 times what the state recorded in 2018. In other words, the pressure there has eased a little from its peak without going back to anything like normal.

Put side by side, the two states tell a clear story. Utah’s rate is well above California’s, and Utah is the one moving fastest in the wrong direction.

Homeowners Are Being Pushed Into The Surplus Lines Market

When a regular insurer declines to renew, many homeowners end up shopping in the surplus lines market. Weiss reports that Utah’s surplus-lines homeowners premiums grew from $1.1 million in 2018 to $13.7 million in 2025, about 12.3 times higher.

California’s surplus-lines homeowners premiums climbed from $85 million in 2018 to $1.3 billion in 2025, roughly 15 times higher. The Weiss release describes the trend in Utah as still in its infancy, which suggests the dollar amounts there have room to grow.

Weiss notes that surplus-lines coverage may cost more and has fewer rate protections. It is also generally not covered by state guaranty funds if the insurer fails.

The release adds one more data point. Over the past five years, surplus-lines insurers paid out 49 cents in claims for each dollar of homeowners premium, while regular insurers paid nearly 71 cents. Weiss notes that this figure does not measure individual claim outcomes.

What To Do If A Nonrenewal Notice Lands In Your Mailbox

None of this means you should panic. It does mean you should be ready, because the worst time to learn how your coverage works is the week before it ends. Here are some practical steps that apply in any state.

Read every piece of mail from your insurer. A nonrenewal notice can look like routine paperwork, and it comes with a deadline.
Start shopping the day you get the notice, not the day before coverage ends. Ask an independent agent to quote several companies at once.
Call your state insurance department. Each state has one, and it can explain your rights and the timing rules for nonrenewal notices where you live.
Tell your mortgage servicer right away if coverage will change, so a lapse does not trigger a costly lender-placed policy.

Lower Your Risk Before The Renewal Date Arrives

You cannot control what insurers decide, but you can make your home look like a better bet. Keep the roof in good shape, clear brush and debris away from the house, and fix water leaks promptly. Save receipts for upgrades such as a new roof, updated wiring or plumbing, and storm-resistant features.

Take photos of every room and the outside of your home once a year and store them somewhere safe. If you ever need to file a claim, a clear record of what you own and what shape the house was in will save you headaches.

Finally, ask questions before you accept a replacement policy. Find out whether the new company is a standard insurer or a surplus-lines carrier, what the deductible is, and whether the policy is backed by your state guaranty fund. Weiss points out that surplus-lines policies generally are not.

The bottom line from the Weiss numbers is simple. In Utah, about 1 in 22 homeowner policies was dropped by the insurer in 2025, and the state went from 17th worst to first in a year. If you live there, or in California, treat your renewal date as a deadline worth marking on the calendar and give yourself time to compare options.

Willow and Hearth