Task Force Suggests Ala. Homeowners Need An Insurance Referral Service

An insurance referral service to connect Alabama consumers with insurers has been suggested by the Hurricane Insurance Issues Task Force to assist homeowners in finding insurance along the state’s Gulf Coast, especially in Mobile and Baldwin counties.

The task force met in Mobile April 20 to discuss ways to help consumers unable to find coverage after Hurricane Ivan. The meeting was the panel’s second one since it was formed.

Finding coverage is primarily an issue for property owners whose insurance companies opted not to renew their policies. Some people face a different situation, with insurers offering some coverage but not for wind damage. That usually means they must go to the Alabama Insurance Underwriting Association, commonly known as the “beach pool” or “wind pool.”

Insurance Commissioner Walter Bell, chairman of the panel, acknowledged that it can be a lot of work for consumers to shop around.

“It’s a task at this point that nobody wants to go through,” Bell told the Mobile Register, “but it’s a task that these folks will have to get involved with to find additional coverage.”

Bell said consumers will need to sit down with the phone book and look for independent insurance agents, who sell policies for many different companies, as well as agents who sell exclusively for other companies.

People tend to stick with their insurance agent and shifting companies can be complicated, according to one national expert on the panel.

Property owners also are finding that insurance coverage costs more, but that can’t be blamed completely on Ivan, which struck in September. Bell said U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, had forwarded a complaint from one Gulf Shores resident whose home has nearly quadrupled in value since it was built in 1994. Even at pre-Ivan rates, that man’s premiums would have gone up significantly because of rapidly increasing property values, Bell said.

Several Mobile and Baldwin county lawmakers, who serve on the task force, said it is frustrating not to be able to help their constituents find the insurance coverage they need.

Rep. Spencer Collier, R-Irvington, understands the issue on a personal level. He said he has made an offer on a home in Bayou La Batre, and State Farm Insurance was the only company he could find to write a policy.

Of the 200,000 insurance claims Ivan spawned, about 7,500 remain unresolved, state officials said. That means about one of every 25 claimants is still working with insurance companies and adjusters.

The full panel will meet again June 1 in Mobile.

Topics Homeowners Alabama