No Day at the Beach

Insurance markets for coastal properties continued to challenge insurers, agents, policymakers and property owners, despite an inactive hurricane season. For the most part, while policymakers debated, private markets went about their business.

Insurers writing in the Atlantic and New England states boosted premiums for coastal homes, began requiring owners to modify their homes to prevent storm damage or dropped insureds altogether. Carriers also expanded their definitions of hurricane risk to encompass homes miles from the coast.

In Connecticut, agents fielded complaints from coastal home owners who were told they had to install storm shutters. Most felt these steps were reasonable, but Attorney General Richard Blumenthal drafted legislation to block insurers from requiring them.

Maryland lawmakers dabbled with the idea of requiring insurers to write coastal but eventually rejected the idea.

For the second year in a row, the Massachusetts FAIR Plan requested a 25 percent rate increase for Cape Cod home insurance premiums. Massachusetts insured coastal properties are valued at around $700 billion. Only three other states —Florida, New York, and Texas — are at greater risk in this regard.

Rhode Island prepped for the worst hurricane to ever crash into New England — on paper at least. About 250 federal emergency management officials staged a response to the fictional “Hurricane Yvette,” from a “storm center” in Providence. Also, the leaders of a special commission introduced legislation protecting coastal homeowners from “unreasonable” rate hikes or from having their policies canceled because of their location.

New York lawmakers heard from constituents and agents, especially on Long Island, that the already tight coastal market was getting tighter. Some insurers were stopped from refusing to renew homeowners based on whether a policyholder has other business with them. New York also proposed creating a tax-exempt state catastrophe reserve pool.

None of the region’s sweeping proposals passed. Virginia took a practical approach, exempting portable generators, batteries and other items used to prepare for a hurricane from its 5 percent sales tax.

Topics New York Legislation Hurricane Homeowners