‘[These companies have] Lied for decades

Two Washington state homeowners have filed an unprecedented lawsuit against Big Oil over what they say is skyrocketing climate-related home insurance premiums.

According to Inside Climate News, the lawsuit was filed in late November in the state’s U.S. District Court for the Western District and is the first of its kind to target fossil fuel companies over the unfair cost of home insurance.

Plaintiffs say oil companies have underestimated the impact of burning oil and gas on the climate, leading to more frequent extreme weather events that have contributed to the insurance crisis.

In Washington, insurance premiums have risen more than 50% since 2019. Resident Richard Kennedy, one of the homeowners involved in the lawsuit, said his premiums have more than doubled since 2017. Margaret Hazzard, another plaintiff, said home insurance rates have increased similarly.

The class-action lawsuit they filed covers all homeowners who purchased or plan to purchase nationwide insurance after 2017. Homeowners insurance premiums have risen nationwide, with a January report from the Treasury Department showing average premiums will rise 9% faster than overall inflation from 2018 to 2022.

According to the program business, many homeowners near dense forests are experiencing little or severely limited coverage, especially in areas prone to wildfires. A 2016 report by Climate Central found that the number of large fires burning annually in Washington has increased fivefold since the 1970s.

Unfortunately, the insurance industry is trying to play catch-up because existing risk models tend to underestimate the effects, leaving homeowners vulnerable and underinsured. Meanwhile, studies have revealed that the oil and gas industry has known the devastating effects of its activities on the climate since the 1970s.

But with more states, cities, and even individuals suing oil companies to hold them accountable for the devastation climate change has caused, the tide may finally be turning.

The Washington lawsuit, Kennedy v. Axon et al, involves both federal and state law claims, including violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, fraudulent misrepresentation, and civil conspiracy.

The plaintiff says that the industry has not taken enough steps to protect the environment and has hidden information from the public by portraying oil and gas as climate-friendly and has gone green. The lawsuit names major oil companies including Exxon, Shell, BP and Chevron and alleges the defendants have made more than $2 trillion in profits since the 1990s.

As natural disasters have increased in frequency and severity over the past decade, insurance companies have had to raise premiums to cover large losses driven by climate-related events such as hurricanes, wildfires and floods.

According to Hagens Berman, the law firm representing Kennedy and Hazard, the cost of natural disasters has exceeded the ability of homeowners and insurers to pay in recent years.

“Higher insurance premiums are the result of the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long campaign of distortion to undermine climate action,” U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said in an emailed statement to Inside Climate News.

“We are already seeing signs of the Great Climate Insurance Collapse, a collapse in asset prices that will trash our entire economy. Like Big Tobacco, Big Oil has lied to the American public for decades about the full extent of its products’ harm and must be held accountable.”

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