Know what US insurance runs on.

Home insurance in the US is no longer one market — it's fifty. In a handful of states the standard carriers have pulled back and you end up on a state-backed plan; in others pricing has jumped but you can still buy; in most, the normal market still works. Here's where your state sits, and what to actually do about it.

Reinsurance is the mechanism by which insurers transfer part of their risk to other companies so they do not go broke when a single disaster hits. What it is, how treaty and facultative contracts differ, why rates harden, and who the big players are — Munich Re, Swiss Re, Hannover Re, SCOR, Berkshire Hathaway Re, and Lloyd's.

Excess and surplus (E&S) lines is the part of the US insurance market that covers risks the admitted, state-regulated market won't touch. What it is, who the big writers are, how a surplus lines broker gets you placed, and why E&S premium hit $81 billion in 2024.

A fronting carrier is a licensed insurer that lets a managing general agent write business on its paper, then passes most of the risk to reinsurers. What a fronting carrier is, why the model exists, how fronting fees work, which carriers do it, and what regulators are watching.

A captive is an insurance company that a parent organisation sets up and owns to cover its own risks. Instead of paying premiums to an outside carrier, the parent pays premiums to a company it controls. What a captive is in plain terms, the three main structures, why companies use them, where they are licensed, and how the IRS scrutinises the smallest ones.

Louisiana's home insurance market went through a collapse between 2021 and 2023. More than a dozen carriers went insolvent or withdrew. Citizens became the default for tens of thousands of coastal households. The market is stabilizing — but slowly, and not evenly. Here's how to navigate it.

Oklahoma now has the highest average homeowners insurance premiums in the United States. Rates have risen more than 50% since 2019. Tornado and severe convective storm exposure is central to the pricing, but so are market structure and roof-age underwriting. Here's what's actually available, what it costs, and what to do.

Colorado's home insurance market is tightening. Premiums rose roughly 58% from 2018 to 2023. The Marshall Fire exposed how badly underinsured most Colorado homeowners were. Carriers are non-renewing WUI homes, and American National left the state entirely in 2025. The Colorado FAIR Plan launched in April 2025 — but it's a last resort, not a substitute for private coverage. Here's how to navigate the market.