Climate Smart Insurance Directory

Large insurance companies are insuring fossil fuel projects and investing in oil, gas, and coal, while refusing to cover the cost of climate damage. Now you can find insurance companies that are not investing in fossil fuels.

Third Act is pleased to endorse and share with you Green America’s new Climate Smart Insurance Directory, as part of Third Act’s Responsible Finance resources that help you align your money with your values.

Click on the image above to use this state-by-state directory, providing you with alternatives to the mega-insurance companies that are underwriting and investing in fossil fuels, worsening the climate disasters that they are supposedly insuring us against.

Bill McKibben, Third Act co-founder, noted “No one really enjoys buying insurance—but this new tool helps make it both easy and constructive. This is the industry that should really understand risk; let’s support the companies that are using their knowledge to help not hurt.”

Visit Green America’s Climate Smart Insurance Directory to find a list of local and regional home and auto insurance companies in each state. While you still need to shop for insurance in your area, this directory will give you suggestions for which companies to call directly or ask local independent insurance agents to obtain quotes from. We encourage you to call three local agents, as each agent works with different companies.

For each state, the directory lists companies that:

• Have both home and auto insurance (with a very few exceptions), so you can save by bundling the two together. Please note that most companies offering homeowners insurance also offer renter’s insurance.
• Do not insure fossil fuel projects that we know of (this information is not always available).
• Have no indication of direct investments in the fossil fuel industry (Grade A), have investments under $200 million (Grade B), or investments under $500 million (Grade C), as listed in the Investing in Climate Chaos database by Urgewald, a German environmental and human rights NGO.
• Have a rating of A- or above for financial stability from AM Best.

You can learn more about Green America’s research and methodology for the directory here.

For people who want to move their money from a big bank, credit card, or investments that disproportionately finances fossil fuels, Third Act, Green America, and others have resources to help you find better, more responsible options. You can check out Third Act’s Responsible Finance Collection. But there was no such directory to help people find climate-friendly insurance — until now.

Why this insurance directory?

In 2023, the United States experienced a record number of weather- and climate-related disasters that each caused $1 billion or more in damages: 28 severe storms, floods, wildfires, winter storms, hurricanes, and droughts, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Now in 2024, we’ve experienced the devastation of Hurricane Helene in the southeast.

The insurance industry stands on the front lines of this climate crisis. Every time a climate-related fire, flood, or storm damages or destroys an insured person’s home or business, they expect their insurance policy to help foot the bill for repairs and rebuilding. Unfortunately, as climate events become more common, major insurance companies have begun to cancel or restrict coverage in climate-vulnerable states.

Meanwhile, property insurance prices are rising for everyone, whether or not they live in an area with heightened climate-related risk. Homeowners insurance premiums are now up 21% from a year ago and 35% from two years ago nationwide, according to the 2023 Policygenius Home Insurance Pricing report.

Insuring and investing in fossil fuels

Shockingly, despite clearly increased climate risks, the nation’s major insurance companies continue to support the chief cause of the climate crisis: the burning of fossil fuels. They do this in two ways: by insuring risky fossil fuel projects, and by investing billions of dollars in fossil fuel companies.

For example, eight Gulf South LNG terminals, each the carbon bomb equivalent of dozens of coal plants, are insured by Liberty Mutual, AIG, Chubb, The Hartford, Travelers, Lloyd’s of London, and more.

The nine major U.S. insurance companies together represent fossil fuel investments of $154 billion, with Berkshire Hathaway (parent of GEICO) the #1 biggest investor with $95.8 billion and State Farm the #2 with $20.6 billion.

Check out all of Third Act’s Responsible Finance Resources

Endorsements and Credits

The Climate Smart Insurance Directory is endorsed by 14 organizations: American Sustainable Business Network, Bank FWD, Center for International Environmental Law, Climate First!, Divest Washington, Environmental Advocates NY, GreenFaith, International Endowments Network, Oil & Gas Action Network, Rainforest Action Network, Rivers & Mountains GreenFaith, Stand.earth, Third Act, and 350 Conejo San Fernando Valley.

Thank you to Green America and its staff for creating this directory. Thank you to Michael Richardson of Third Act Upstate New York and Rivers & Mountains GreenFaith, who helped to fund this directory and is a leader in all of Third Act’s Responsible Finance work.