Share [Insurance] Stories

This Great Idea comes directly from our partners and friends at Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light, aka, MNIPL.

Here’s MNIPL’s invitation:

Share Your Insurance Story with Us

As climate-fueled disasters increase in number and severity, home insurance companies are claiming that they are becoming a money-losing business in more and more of the country – including Minnesota. Minnesotans have faced premiums so high they can’t afford to keep them or property damage so severe that insurance companies won’t pay out. We need real community-led solutions to this problem.

MNIPL is compiling stories from Minnesotans who have been affected by these issues. Whether you’ve been dropped by your insurance, faced rate hikes that have forced you to choose between insurance or other needs, or had damage that insurance wouldn’t cover, your story matters.

Click here to share your story with us!

Heres’s why this matters and how sharing stories makes a difference:

‘Policymakers can help people with home insurance problems by regulating insurance companies to prevent discriminatory practices, supporting mitigation efforts like building code upgrades, establishing state-backed insurance pools for high-risk areas, providing subsidies for low-income homeowners, and promoting transparency in pricing and risk assessment by insurers; essentially, make home insurance more accessible and affordable…

MNIPL is compiling stories from Minnesotans who have been affected by these issues. We want to show our elected officials that Minnesotans are facing real harms from our insurance crisis and encourage them to support community-led solutions like Housing Resilience Agencies and holding fossil fuel companies responsible for the harms of climate change.’

Make this a congregational activity – including youth could be interesting.

MNIPL asks stories be limited to 1200 characters or less and invite folx to share a photo.

Empower people in sharing their stories:

  • Let this be an adult forum or part of another regular gathering.
  • Invite people to reflect on their own experience.
  • Take about ten minutes to draft a story.
  • Workshop the stories at tables
    • including folx who don’t have their own story to tell involves more people,
    • makes more people aware
    • creates stronger, clearer, more compelling stories
  • Share these stories aloud in the group, if folx are willing to do so.
  • Listen for ways the congregation might support people, if the event has been recent.
  • Provide access to a computer and internet for folx who may not have the tech abilities or savvy on their own.
  • Submit your stories as a group:
    • the website allows for only individual submissions BUT
    • submitting stories one after another – or all at the same time on different devices – is a form of solidarity
  • Commit to following up with MNIPL:
    • to discern how you can support their work
    • keep updated on next steps with legislators
    • and hold insurance companies accountable.

Invite the whole neighborhood – it’s a great chance to get to know your neighbors, support any who have struggled with insurance neglect, and commit to finding a better way for all.