The Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) has issued a statement pushing back against what it described as a misleading interpretation of claims closed without payment data.
The statement comes in the wake of a Weiss Ratings report published in April 2026 that identified 15 large US insurers that closed at least half of homeowner claims with no payment in 2025, framing the findings as evidence of a "sharp rise in homeowner claim denials."
The report followed a social media post from President Trump calling for greater transparency in homeowner claim denials. The Triple-I does not dispute the underlying figures but challenges how they are being characterized and used.
According to the trade body, claims closed without payment cover a wide range of outcomes that have nothing to do with bad faith or improper claims handling. These include situations where damages fall below a policy's deductible, losses are not covered under policy terms, duplicate claims are submitted, or an investigation determines no payment is owed.
"Claims closed without payment are not synonymous with denied claims, and neither should be automatically interpreted as evidence of improper claims handling or an unwillingness to pay covered losses," the Triple-I said. "Treating all claims closed without payment as evidence of insurer misconduct or failure to pay covered losses creates a misleading picture of how claims are handled and resolved."
The statement also flagged structural factors that inflate closed-without-payment statistics. Large catastrophe events often generate claims ultimately determined to be covered by another source, such as the National Flood Insurance Program. Those claims may still require administrative review by a private insurer before being closed without payment, affecting reported figures without reflecting any failure on the carrier's part.
Post-disaster claims solicitation is another driver. The National Council of Insurance Legislators updated its insurance fraud model law and readopted the Storm Chasers Consumer Protection model act in late 2025, expanding its scope from roofing contractors to all contractors operating after a disaster, citing concerns about inflated repair costs and claims filed using documents homeowners did not fully understand.
When contractors or public adjusters encourage homeowners to file claims for damage that falls below deductibles or outside coverage terms, the result is a higher volume of claims legitimately closed without payment that can nonetheless skew aggregate statistics.
The debate has significant implications beyond public relations.
Bad faith litigation remains one of the most consequential legal risks facing US carriers, and the current environment is intensifying that exposure. A 2025 New York Senate bill currently in committee would add a statutory private right of action permitting policyholders to sue insurers for unreasonable refusal or delay, defining 14 practices as unfair claim settlement. If enacted, New York would join the majority of states that already permit such private causes of action.
Meanwhile, the use of artificial intelligence in claims handling is adding a further dimension to this risk.
Legal analysts have noted that the integration of AI in claims handling presents a growing area for bad faith claims, with insurers potentially facing exposure both for misusing AI and for failing to use it. The NAIC's Big Data and AI Working Group is currently piloting an AI Systems Evaluation Tool across 12 states, with adoption expected at the 2026 Fall National Meeting, as regulators move to establish governance standards for automated claims decisions.
A 2026 survey by Insurity found that 36% of US consumers said they would be less likely to purchase a policy from an insurer that publicly uses AI, underscoring why transparency in claims handling is increasingly a competitive as well as a regulatory concern.
The Triple-I's statement arrives at a delicate moment for the industry. Private US P/C insurers booked an estimated net underwriting gain of approximately $63 billion in full-year 2025, up from a $23 billion gain in 2024 and a $22 billion loss in 2023, with the full-year combined ratio improving to 92.9%. That sharp profitability recovery, set alongside data showing high rates of claims closed without payment at some carriers, has sharpened public and political scrutiny of claims practices.
The Triple-I points to the scale of the industry's claims-paying activity as a counterweight to that narrative. US natural catastrophes caused an estimated $112.8 billion in insured losses in 2024 alone, with the industry responding through catastrophe response teams, recovery centers, and the deployment of drones, AI and electronic payments to accelerate resolution.
"Paying covered claims promptly and fairly remains central to the industry's purpose and is subject to extensive regulatory oversight," the statement concluded. "As policymakers, regulators and consumers evaluate claims data, it is important to consider the broader context behind the numbers and recognize insurers remain committed to paying covered claims and helping policyholders recover from loss."
