NAHMA Update: Final Report from Industry Survey on Insurance Costs

May 27, 2021

Dear NAHMA Members,

Yesterday, we received the attached final report on the insurance cost increase survey that NAHMA and several industry colleagues had commissioned through research firm NDP Analytics.

The NDP survey received 174 responses, including housing providers with insurance policies covering solely affordable housing units, conventional housing units, as well as providers with policies that covered both types of units. The survey respondents operate approximately 2.6 million housing units across the U.S., including 1.3 million affordable housing units (over 241,000 Section 8 units and 1.0 million other affordable units) and 1.3 million conventional units.

While all the findings in the NDP survey are impactful, several key trends emerged:

1.       Magnitude of Premium Increases: Both conventional and affordable housing providers are experiencing higher premiums across multiple lines of insurance. The most widespread and highest magnitude increases in annual premiums were reported in general umbrella/excess liability insurance and commercial property insurance.

2.       Rationale for Increased Premiums: Limited markets is one of the most common reasons for increased insurance premiums for both conventional and affordable housing. However, housing providers with policies covering affordable housing units more frequently identified renter population and risk characteristics such as crime statistics as drivers of increased premiums.

3.       Impact of Increased Premiums: Higher premiums impact housing providers and, subsequently, renters. Most housing providers indicated that they would take action to mitigate cost increases due to higher insurance premiums. Some of the most common actions include increasing insurance deductibles, decreasing operating expenses, and increasing rent.

The report will be shared with agency leadership and we will continue our dialogue on finding policy solutions.  

Thank you for your participation and please let us know if you have any questions,