(NewsNation) — Nearly one in seven homes across the United States is uninsured, according to a report by LendingTree.
The marketplace platform said 11.3 million of 82.9 million owner-occupied homes across the U.S. are uninsured.
The state with the highest rate of uninsured homes is New Mexico, where 23.3% of 572,000 homes do not have insurance coverage, the report said. Trailing close behind: West Virginia (23%) and Mississippi (22.9%), which have 536,000 homes and 786,000 homes, respectively.
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On the other end of the spectrum was New Hampshire, which had the lowest rate of uninsured homes, 9.2%, for the state’s nearly 400,000 homes.
Among metro areas, McAllen, Texas, was well ahead of its counterparts. Lending Tree said 43.3% of homes in this area do not have home insurance, well ahead of runners up El Paso (23%) and Miami (21%).
“Insurance has become more expensive and harder to get in recent years. This is putting people just one disaster away from losing the physical and financial security their home provides,” LendingTree home insurance expert Rob Bhatt said.
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Most lenders require borrowers to carry sufficient insurance. LendingTree said it concluded how many U.S. homes are uninsured in part by analyzing FEMA data of the 25 counties considered most at risk for natural disasters.
More broadly, it considered an owner-occupied home to be “uninsured” if the annual home insurance cost was less than $100.
