Australian insurance-buyers aren’t the only people making a fuss about rising insurance premiums. The New York Times has reported American homeowners are beginning to feel the crunch as insurers push up rates to counter falling investment incomes and some big weather-related payouts.

Allstate, the second-largest home insurer, has been leading the way, with increases of 10-25%, although smaller personal lines insurers are predicting even higher rises.

The newspaper said American insurers have tried to keep their home premiums low to lure customers to use their more lucrative car insurance. But like their Australian counterparts, the US insurers are being forced into pushing up premiums as auto insurance profits fall and investment returns fall.

And US insurance brokers are beginning to complain that the insurers are tending to “discourage and reject homeowners’ claims”, according to the New York Times. The insurers have denied this, but agreed they are cutting back on claims staff and holding on to claims longer before settling.

Deductibles of at least 5% have also been introduced into policies on homes in the hurricane-prone Atlantic states.