Archive for the ‘hurricane insurance’ Category

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Allstate Requests Rate Hike on Louisiana Homeowners Policies

January 25th, 2012 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, hurricane insurance, rate watch

Allstate Corp., the second-largest home insurer in Louisiana, has asked for an insurance rate increase for 144,000 homeowners who get their coverage from two of the corporations local subsidiaries.

According to the Louisiana state insurance department, Allstate wants an average increase of 5.9 percent for 73,000 homeowners with policies from Allstate Indemnity Co, and an 11.3 percent rate increase for 71,000 homeowners with coverage from Allstate Insurance Co. Added together, these rate hikes represent $17 million.

If Jim Donelon, the Louisiana Insurance Commissioner, approves the rate increases, they would go into effect with new and renewal policies effective March 1st.

Allison Hatcher, speaking on behalf of Allstate, explained that this rate increase is meant to cover the corporations cost of reinsurance, which is basically the coverage that Allstate takes from other companies in order to help cover damages caused by catastrophic events like hurricanes and floods. Such reinsurance charges are usually built into homeowner’s policy premiums, and are generally higher for homeowners in coastal areas.

Allstate’s last rate increase in Louisiana was in August, 2010, when the higher rates ranged from 2.9 percent to 11.6 percent depending on the specific Allstate branch writing the coverage.

State Farm, the state’s largest insurer of private homes, has already asked for and received a rate hike of it’s own this year.

Commissioner Donelon has 30-45 days to consider Allstate’s request before making his decision.

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Suffolk County, NY Tops Hurricane Irene Loss List

October 19th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, hurricane insurance

The numbers are in, and the “winner” in the “who had more damage from Hurricane Irene” contest is Suffolk County, NY, at least if you’re measuring by the total amount of insured property loss.

Overall, the three states that saw the most damage to insured property (topping $500 million) were New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina, with Virginia and Maryland rounding out the top five.

This information comes from an insurance data provider, Verisk Analytics, and was released on Monday, however, the Verisk cautions that while the numbers are fairly solid, technically, they’re still just an estimate.

In total 191 counties in states along the eastern seaboard saw damage from Hurricane Irene, including Vermont, which doesn’t even have a coastline.

Not surprisingly, many of the people who suffered property damage did not have wind or flood insurance as part of their homeowners coverage – these must be purchased separately.

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Missouri Enacts 2 New Insurance Laws

September 20th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in flood insurance, homeowners insurance, hurricane insurance, tornado insurance

Two new insurance laws went into effect last Friday in Missouri, both of which provide stronger protection for homeowners in the the Show-Me state.

The first law, Senate Bill 101, bars exterior repair contractors, like roofing and siding companies, from offering to cover a prospective client’s insurance deductible in order to make a sale, and also prohibits such companies from negotiating with insurance companies on an insured homeowner’s behalf.

The other law, Senate Bill 132, allows insurance companies to legally set up mobile service centers in storm-damaged areas, to make it easier for affected policyholders to file claims. Under the terms of this law, counties, cities, and other political subdivisions may not restrict insurers from establishing temporary operations. Previously, there were cases where cities and other municipalities wanted new business licenses before mobile service centers were allowed to operate after a weather-related disaster.

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Irene-induced Losses Shouldn’t Prompt Insurance Rate Hike

August 30th, 2011 by Iris | 1 Comment | Filed in flood insurance, homeowners insurance, hurricane insurance

Reuters reported yesterday that while the official total for insured losses caused by Hurricane Irene are not yet official or complete the catastrophe modeling company AIR Worldwide is estimating $3 to $6 billion…and while those are big numbers, they’re actually lower than what was anticipated.

Before Irene actually made landfall, many insurance industry analysts were expecting the losses to meet or exceed $10 billion, but once the storm actually arrived it became clear that the damage was much less than expected.

AIR, whose estimate extends to onshore U.S. properties, is the corporation that makes the software that insurers use to model – or predict – exposure to disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes. On Monday, insurance shares rallied much more significantly than the rest of the market, and it is believed that this is based on investors being relieved that payouts would not be as extensive as predicted.

Even with better-than-expected numbers, however, Hurricane Irene is being considered a “worst case scenario” by some analysts, especially for Allstate Corp. and Travelers Companies, Inc, which may have just had some or all of their third-quarter earnings literally washed away. Nevertheless, this should not prompt any kind of industry-wide insurance rate increases.

Of the areas affected, millions were still without power and suffering from heavy flooding even late yesterday, especially in suburban New Jersey and rural Vermont. Adding up those losses will take some time, as will sorting out how many of those affected individuals and businesses had government-backed flood insurance.

On the up-side, insured losses in the Carolinas are estimated at a ‘mere’ $200 million.

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NOAA Says Hurricane Season Will Be MORE Active than Predicted

August 9th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in flood insurance, hurricane insurance, wind insurance

It may seem weird to be talking about hurricanes when so much of the American south and southwest are suffering under drought conditions and horrible heat, but the Atlantic coast is still at risk, especially since the busiest part of the annual Atlantic hurricane season is the period from August to October.

As they do every August, federal storm watchers updated their outlook for the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season last week, increasing the number of expected “named” storms from the initial predictions made back in May.

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) forecasters are now saying they expect three to five of this year’s storm’s to develop into hurricanes of category 3 or higher, with winds topping 110 miles an hour.

Gerry Bell, Ph.D., the lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the Climate Prediction Center elaborated, saying, “The atmosphere and Atlantic Ocean are primed for high hurricane activity during August through October. Storms through October will form more frequently and become more intense than we’ve seen so far this season.”

The climate factors predicted in May to support an active season include exceptionally warm temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean (actually the third warmest temperatures on record), the possible return of La Niña, and the “tropical tropical multi-decadal signal, which since 1995 has brought favorable ocean and atmospheric conditions, leading to more active seasons.” Also at play is a reduced vertical wind shear and lower air pressure across the tropical Atlantic.

Based on all of this information, the confidence for a more-active-than-normal hurricane season has been revised upwards from May’s 65% to a worrisome 85% this month. As well, the number of predicted named storms has increased from 12-18 in May to 14-19 as of last week, with the expected number of hurricanes now at 7-10, up from 6-10.

What does all this mean to the average coastal homeowner? Don’t be lulled into false security by a season that has been quiet so far; check on your wind and flood insurance coverage before it’s too late.

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Coastal Residents: Check Your Homeowners Insurance Now

June 6th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in auto insurance, flood insurance, homeowners insurance, hurricane insurance

The Atlantic Hurricane Season officially began last Wednesday, and NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is predicting a busy summer tropical storm-wise.

It should come as no surprise, then, that insurance regulators in coastal states like Virginia are strongly suggesting that homeowners – especially those with coastal property – spend some time this week reviewing their homeowners insurance policies.

Representatives from Virginia’s State Corporation Commission want to remind policyholders that some insurers include a deductible for hurricane or wind losses in their policies, but with other insurance companies such coverage is optional. The deductibles also can be written in two ways: either to be applied as a percentage of the coverage on the dwelling, or as a flat amount.

As well, insurance regulators want people to be reminded that since a lot of the damage from a hurricane is actually caused by flooding, separate flood insurance, which can be obtained through the National Flood Insurance Program, may be required.

Automobile insurance, the Virginia commission says, should also be reviewed to see whether wind or hurricane damage is covered.

As well, Virginians – and all coastal homeowners – should make copies of their vital records such as passports, driver’s licenses, social security cards, and birth certificates, and place them, and copies of their insurance policies, in safe, waterproof locations. A foil-wrapped package, inside a zip-top bag, in the freezer, is generally safe.

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FEMA Stresses Need for Hurricane Response Training

April 27th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in hurricane insurance, insurance news

Earlier this week, Craig Fugate, director of FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) emphasized the importance of public officials learning how to respond to hurricanes and other powerful storms, and also said that the state of the economy was not an excuse to forgo preparation.

Speaking at the National Hurricane Conference in Atlanta, Fugate said, “As much as we talk about the public, this team is constantly changing. There has been a tremendous turnover. How many of the elected leadership are going to participate — and not just for the photo op?”

He stressed that mayors, governors and others have to participate in hurricane preparedness drills in order to really understand the sorts of decisions they may have to make during this summer’s Atlantic hurricane season, which begins in a bit over a month. He also urged the emergency management community to use social media to keep the public engaged in the process, and stressed that they need to work with private sector responders when handling disasters.

When asked if budget concerns would affect state and local governments’ response to disasters like hurricanes, or the recent spate of tornadoes in the Midwest and South, Fugate was dismissive, saying, “Just because the economy’s horrible doesn’t mean hurricanes stop.”

Also speaking at the conference was National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read, who reviewed last year’s hurricane season, which, he said, had the highest number of the storms without a landfall in the United States.

Among his priorities this year, said Read, are outreach to boost community preparation and public empowerment. His top concern is Haiti, where 1.5 million people are still living in tents, putting them at an even greater risk than ever from a major hurricane.

Read said, “That’s going to be my biggest gut check. I don’t know how many people can be safely dealt with in a hurricane of that magnitude.”

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