“Today’s three-year-olds can switch on laptops and open their favorite apps. When I was three, I ate mud.” Times change. Remember when homeowner’s insurance was an after-thought? In some counties and states, being approved for insurance has become as big a concern as being approved for a loan. “Nonadmitted” insurance is becoming the new norm in many places that face untenable economics when it comes to insuring houses, like coastal Florida or wildfire-prone California. Essentially, insurance tends to be a heavily regulated field, with governments ensuring that insurers have enough money to compensate those they insure, that they’re maintaining high-quality business practices, and that price hikes are limited year to year. When those insurers won’t touch an owner, perhaps they can go to a state-backed insurer, but when even those go out of reach, nonadmitted insurance is there. They have none of the protections or backing of the government and existed at first to insure the comically uninsurable, like nuclear waste projects or fireworks factories. Nonadmitted premiums rose 27.5 percent from 2022 to 2023, compared to 13.8 percent among the admitted market. The number of nonadmitted policies in Florida rose 73 percent to hit 92,000 over the past 14 years. (Today’s podcast can be found here and Richey May is sponsoring this week’s. Richey May’s consulting, cybersecurity, business intelligence, and automation services are designed by mortgage experts to help you continue to drive growth and increase profitability. Hear an Interview with Richey May’s Michael Nouguier on cybersecurity to thwart holiday attacks and best practices as we enter 2025.)