Home insurance rates need more transparency from Ontario regulator: complaint

Ontario’s financial services regulator should do more about rising home insurance rates linked to climate change, says a new complaint.

The submission by a climate advocacy group to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRAO) says extreme weather is helping propel rates toward unaffordable levels, and the regulator should at least be pushing for more transparency about the trends.

Investors for Paris Compliance say in the official complaint that Ontario home insurance rates climbed 84 per cent between 2014 and 2024, a period that saw the main CPI inflation measure climb 28 per cent.

It says that while the FSRAO gives a level of transparency on automotive insurance trends through statistics and analysis, it does nothing comparable on the home insurance side.

Investors for Paris is asking that the regulator conduct an investigation into home insurance trends, focusing on future affordability stresses, while also looking into what FSRAO can do longer-term to protect the stability of the sector.

The group also wants the regulator to look into the wider actions of property insurers, including their investments in fossil fuel companies (despite climate change being a notable cause of rate increases), and their efforts to have government backstop insurance for riskier properties.

“Unlike with auto insurance, home insurance rates are a black box – Ontarians only know they keep going up,” said Kiera Taylor, senior policy analyst at Investors for Paris Compliance, in a statement.

“We need greater transparency about what’s going on, and a plan by the regulator to get on top of growing home insurance unaffordability in the face of increasing climate damages.”