The Home-Insurance Coin Flip: Nearly Half of Claims Result in Zero Payout

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

Markets & Finance
The Home-Insurance Coin Flip: Nearly Half of Claims Result in Zero Payout

Home insurers pitch policies as a financial peace-of-mind safety net, but in a disaster customers can find the apparent guarantee of compensation evaporates

By Jean Eaglesham and Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky
May 30, 2026 9:00 pm ET

When disaster strikes, many Americans face a near flip-of-the-coin chance that their home insurer will pay a claim.

And the problem is getting worse. The five biggest home-insurers as a group didn’t pay out on more than 44% of claims resolved last year, forcing homeowners and renters to fund repairs out of their own pockets, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal found.

{snip}

Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/finance/the-home-insurance-coin-flip-nearly-half-of-claims-result-in-zero-payout-4b49acaf

---

https://www.wsj.com/news/author/jean-eaglesham
https://www.wsj.com/news/author/jaclyn-jeffrey-wilensky

******
The Wall Street Journal
‪@wsj.com‬

Insurers pitch homeowners’ policies as a financial peace-of-mind safety net, but in a disaster customers can find the apparent guarantee of compensation evaporates.

The Home-Insurance Coin Flip: Nearly Half of Claims Result in Zero Payout
Home insurers pitch policies as a financial peace-of-mind safety net, but in a disaster customers can find the apparent guarantee of compensation evaporates.
on.wsj.com
10:09 PM · May 30, 2026
******

Insurers pitch homeowners’ policies as a financial peace-of-mind safety net, but in a disaster customers can find the apparent guarantee of compensation evaporates.

— The Wall Street Journal (@wsj.com) 2026-05-31T02:09:24.167513Z

[OhioBack2Blue]

1. It is all junk insurance for homeowners now...

....and basically only a policy meant to protect mtg lending banks from losses.

Pages and pages of exclusions which amounts to a "we don't cover anything policy." Same for warranties.

Don't even think about running a check to see if payment might be available. My wife and I were dinged for 5 years on our credit reports for just having our agent run an inquiry!

[wolfie001]

3. If a customer has a question, that sets off an alarm with those mother-f6ckers

[wolfie001]

2. Expect more crappy outcomes with the KKKrappy occupant in the WH nt

[OldBaldy1701E]

4. Umm... that reticence runs throughout the entirety of the insurance racket.

But, this is one of the things that we have been programmed to believe as being absolutely necessary.

You know... instead of addressing the massive greed in that crime syndicate of a 'business'?

[lonely bird]

9. Yup

They are simply casinos. They are betting you won’t use the insurance and they are the house so they always win.

[3Hotdogs]

5. THE BIG FIVE: These are the biggest offenders. New Jersey's Department of Insurance listed companies with

the most complaints. Wouldn't you know --- Progressive, State Farm, GEICO, U.S.A.A. and Allstate led the list of complaints against them?

You might as well save the premium money and self insure. Or if these are your carriers, pay a bit more and switch company. At least you will have real insurance.

[lonely bird]

8. We had State Farm

For the 8 years we lived in Toledo and the 15 years we lived in Chicago area. We had one claim which was the result of a situation that actually saved the company money. When we moved to Ohio we had them and after two months in our home we got a notification saying our rates were going up due to “excessive claims”. One claim in 23 years. We dropped them for Auto-Owners/Home-Owners.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. I bet they don't even cover chip board glue now

We are over invested in housing. Insurance doesn't make the risk go away. Only truly unexpected calamities payout big time.

The numbers supporting your life are more important than all the insurance or all the things you own.

Experiences matter more than trinkets.

[3Hotdogs]

7. Another insurance rip-offs are the health insurance clubs that are not insurance. They are not rated by state agencies

because they are not insurance. They advertise that they are members of Better Business Bureau (another joke) but some customers and state consumer affairs departments are suing them.

[lonely bird]

10. Medishare?

This is the “Christian” based group that I hear advertising on Sirius/XM.

No thanks.

[3Hotdogs]

16. Sirius XM. Christian Healthcare Ministries.

I believe they have had complaints. There are several of these outfits.

[mwmisses4289]

11. Insurance is a scam. it started coming clear to me because of a movie

based on a Terry Pratchett book. It became even clearer in 2008, after Hurricane Ike hit our area. People contacting their insurance companies, the adjuster coming out, then telling them that their house was still "livable" because they had pitched a tent between the only two walls and under a portion of the roof still left.
So, yeah, the commercials pitch insurance as a safety net for you if something goes wrong, but the reality is that money is going straight into the ceo's pockets for that new yacht, helicopter, or whatever the latest shiny new toy is that the epstein class has decided is the thing this week.

[Bluetus]

12. We know this has been the trend line for health "insurance" for a long time

Now homeowner's insurance. It is happening in auto insurance as well? These guys seem to have unlimited money to spend on advertising.

[Fiendish Thingy]

13. We've never had a problem

In the US we had State Farm, only made a couple of claims in 25 years, both paid without hassle (one involved a woman whose car rammed through our fence and hit the corner of our house- fence destroyed, house only minor external damage- they went after her insurance company)

In Canada, we use BCAA (AAA equivalent) which is underwritten by Manulife. One claim in the seven years we’ve been here, paid without hassle. When we paid off our mortgage, our insurance agent was worried we would cancel our insurance…seems crazy to me to not carry homeowner’s insurance.

[JT45242]

14. Peace of mind for the bank only...

Deductible soaring. Rates rising at multiples of inflation.

Privatized profits and socialized losses.

Home owners insurance is really just there to protect the bank if your house gets hit by a tornado, hurricane, etc that you don't just walk away from the rubble that the bank has to sell at pennies on the dollar.

[Bengus81]

18. So you'd think homeowners would have an ally in the bank that owns the home

when those asshats want to deny claims or pay pennies for repairs.

[flvegan]

15. Link to non-paywall article

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/insurance/the-home-insurance-coin-flip-nearly-half-of-claims-result-in-zero-payout/ar-AA24suIe

I don't understand why people post shit nobody without a subscription (to the WSJ, no less) can read. ANYway,

Keep this in mind while you're singing along to their jingle, or laughing at their mascot: these insurance companies are not your friends, and their job is to make a profit. That said, know your policy - limits and deductibles, coverage and non-coverage (hint to fellow Floridians: flood coverage).

Reminder that 10% of insurance losses are allegedly due to fraud. Keep that in mind when shaking your fist at the industry. Your fellow shitty human Americans are a big part of the reason insurance is so difficult. Fucking thieves.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

19. "I don't understand why people post shit nobody without a subscription (to the WSJ, no less) can read."

Good morning.

The rules of the Latest Breaking News forum require that I link to "reputable mainstream news websites and blogs." The Wall Street Journal. is a reputable mainstream news source.

MSN is not a news source. It is a news aggregator. It takes stories from news sources and reruns them. Along the way, it strips the links to the stories' authors, preventing readers from seeing what the authors' credentials are and what other stories the authors are working on.

The authors are working people, and I like to see that they receive the recognition they deserve. Not everyone agrees with that notion. I'll leave that decision up to you.

Also, you are wrong in your assertion that you have no access to The Wall Street Journal. I can see from another of your recent posts that you have difficulty looking things up, so this is as good a good time as any to remind you of the valuable role your public library plays.

Your friendly local public library has a subscription to The Wall Street Journal. and many other periodicals through databases to which the library subscribes. Go ahead. Take a look. All you need is your library card number and a PIN. You don't even have to go to the library. You can do this online.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Have a great weekend.

[Historic NY]

17. State Farm is not like a good neighbor, they suck

A 2 inch crack in a sewer pipe was allowing water to flood the basement. Water kept permeating and following the pipe the lateral pipe in the front yard. They said I should have known what was going on underground.

A solar company ENRG had improperly installed the panels on my roof, the sold to to another than another company. There lag bolt mount penetrated the splines of my tongue and board roof underlayment. That caused the mounted to moved up and down eventually splitting the board which allowed water to come into the house. We were have heavy thunder storms with gust up to 50mph. That was picking up the panels. I should have known...
Meanwhile the solar panels had to be removed by a company license only by the leaseholder. They gave my roofer 3 days to have the roof repaired, before they had to be reinstalled. The leaseholder is a company in Texas, Spruce with a dismal history. SF said I should have only repair the one section. It was like getting half a hair cut on the 30 yr textured.shingles. I ate the combined cost of 17k .

SF no longer has a regional office in NY State its send in all out to Illinois. They kept passing the claims around like it was a hot potato. Its the so sue me attitude. I over 50 yrs they paid one claim here, my uncle drove through the garage door, yup and hit the back of my 47 Chevy and drove it forward into the back wall of the attached garage. They didn't pay for the house damage they paid for the car damage.

My agent he is just the collector of premiums. I've tried to find a new company but that is next to impossible. I pity the folks in other states that keep getting hit.

[Oneironaut]

20. Everything is a scam now.

It's a grift economy. Whoever successfully scams the most people wins. The optimal business model is getting corporate welfare from the government while grifting at the same time.

[KSL-Washington]

21. How well I know...

to the tune of almost $50K for repairs from water damage. I been using USAA for over 40 years, and they have become terrible about taking care of their members.

[dlk]

22. Too often, when someone files a homeowners claim their policy is not renewed by the insurer

Insurance has become a roll of dice to get a claim paid.

[dalton99a]

23. Kick