US MANUFACTURERS HIT BY SOARING PROPERTY INSURANCE COSTS

James Kirsh expects the cost of the property and casualty insurance for his family-owned foundry in Wisconsin that makes cast iron parts for tractors and other equipment to at least double when it's up for renewal this fall. He’s been told it could triple. The problem is that his long-time insurer - Acuity - has told his insurance agent it no longer wants to cover factories like his, which handles molten metal. So they'll need to piece together coverage from multiple, higher-cost alternative providers.

The cost of insuring everything from homes to cars in the U.S. has surged in recent years, driven by factors including rising costs of car and home repairs and more storm damage amid climate change. Auto insurance, for instance, has seen its biggest increases since the 1970s over the past year - and is even cited by economists as an outsized factor in the inflationary wave the Federal Reserve has fought to tame with interest rate hikes beginning in March 2022.

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