Let’s Talk New Mexico 08/14, 8am: Thanks to growing financial risks from climate change, property insurance premiums are ballooning, and not just in areas inundated with wildfire and subsequent burn scar flooding.
While the state doesn’t legally require homeowners to have property insurance, mortgage lenders will likely require homebuyers to carry coverage for flooding or fire.
That’s becoming a real headache in some areas, where insurers are pulling out of the market entirely — leaving major coverage gaps in places where home equity represents a large share of American wealth.
On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico we’ll explore the problem, and potential solutions, as lawmakers try to confront how climate change could reshape the state’s insurance market.
How have your insurance premiums changed over time? Have you taken steps to protect your property from fire or flooding? Do you think elected officials are able to tackle rising rates and climate change?
Email letstalk@kunm.org, leave a voice message on our website, or call in live Thursday morning at 8.
Guests:
- Jordan Haedtler, Climate financial policy consultant
- State Representative Harlan Vincent (R-Ruidoso)
- Tim Vigil, Deputy Superintendent, New Mexico Office of the Superintendent of Insurance
- Janet Ruiz, Director of Strategic Communication, The Insurance Information Institute
Resources, Related Reading:
New Mexico Property Insurance Program (NM F.A.I.R Plan)
Sen. Martin Heinrich’s “Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act of 2025”
“NM insurance chief calls on Legislature to ensure recent flood victims are covered” - Source New Mexico
“New Mexico’s FAIR Plan Gets $300K Coverage Boost” - Insurify
“California wants regular insurers to grow. But it’s the FAIR Plan that’s growing faster than ever” - San Francisco Chronicle
“The Assets Households Own and the Debts They Carry” - Pew Research Center
