| Insurance Reform - South Carolina |
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Many companies pull out to limit losses By Ieva - The Associated Press/The Sun News, June 2009 CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As the 2009 hurricane season arrives, many U.S. homeowners are finding insurance is either more expensive, or harder to get. Homeowners from New York to the Carolinas and in the Gulf Coast region are again seeing premiums rise and coverage change. And more are being dropped completely by their carriers as insurers try to limit their exposure in high-risk areas. "They just don't like being in the business ... too much risk," said Scott Hall of Market Street Advisers, a financial advisory firm in Wilmington, N.C. Read more . . .State Farm to exclude wind, hail coverage By Jim Faber - Hilton Head Island Packet (South Carolina), January 15, 2008 Bill Neville got an unpleasant surprise when he opened a recent letter from his homeowners insurance company. The Spanish Wells Plantation resident learned that State Farm Insurance Cos. would be excluding wind and hail converge if he renews the policy in March. The exclusion of wind and hail coverage will only come on policies within the service area of the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association, also called the wind pool, White said. The wind pool is a state-mandated association of insurance companies that makes wind and hail insurance available as a last resort to residents in coastal areas. The wind pool increased its rates an average of 35 percent in October. Read more . . . State Insurance director loses insurance by Jeremy Hsieh - Island Packet (South Carolina), September 4, 2007 Losing home insurance isn't funny for coastal homeowners, but Scott Richardson, a Hilton Head Island resident and director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance, couldn't help chuckling about the irony of losing his policy. In February, Gov. Mark Sanford appointed Richardson, then a state senator, to the position to deal with the coastal insurance crisis that arose after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and its surroundings in 2005. Like thousands of other coastal residents before him, he received a letter about three weeks ago saying his policy would be dropped.
"I guess it just proves nobody's immune. If I'm not immune, then nobody is," Richardson said. Read more . . . Bigger wind pool to show up in bills Rates to increase by 35 percent on average By Jenny Burns - Myrtle Beach Sun-News (South Carolina), July 31, 2007 The state's wind pool rates will rise 35 percent on average, but not every homeowners-insurance customer will see that jump - depending on deductible percentage and location, the insurance department said Monday. While loss data initially called for an increase of 65 percent or more, underwriting guideline changes reduced that to 35 percent, the department said. Now, larger deductibles allow for a decreased yearly premium and townhomes will be considered dwellings no matter how many units are in a specific structure. Read more . . . Cautious praise for wind pool Officials say coverage area growth has helped, but not perfected market By Jenny Burns - Myrtle Beach Sun-News (South Carolina), 20 July 2007 Last month's wind pool expansion has allowed at least two insurance companies to keep some of the policies they planned to cancel, but officials said that doesn't mean some homeowners won't still get dropped. Farm Bureau is keeping 400 of the 3,000 policies it planned to drop - but cutting the wind coverage on those. Allstate says it's keeping 3,300 of the 12,000 policies it announced it would cancel in December. The first wind pool expansion in April allowed the company to keep 2,300 policies - with the wind coverage excluded. Read more . . . Everybody in the pool? Officials discuss pros, cons of coastal wind pool expansion By Jenny Burns - Myrtle Beach Sun-News (South Carolina), March 18, 2007 As insurers dump policies and raise premiums on the coast, legislators and insurance officials are debating whether to expand the state's wind pool - a last-resort property insurance market that runs east of U.S. 17 Business. Read more . . . States insure growing number 'Last resort' often only chance to get policies on homes By Jason M. Rodriguez - The Sun-News (South Carolina), January 30, 2007 The number of coastal Carolinas homeowners applying for insurance through state-created plans is expected to increase after Allstate's cancellation of thousands of policies last month, and real-estate professionals are worried the beach plans might be stretched too thin. North and South Carolina's coastal insurance plans were designed as last-resort options that cost more money so that consumers would seek out companies in the private sector before coming to them. Those state plans have grown along with the population - and along with private insurance cancellations and price increases. Read more . . . |
