Premium finance companies are permitted to extend due dates for premiums and other charges in the wake of tornadoes that ripped through the state in December, the Kentucky insurance commissioner announced.
Finance companies should also refrain from cancelling agreements since mail service has been disrupted for some policyholders, commissioner Sharon Clark said in a bulletin posted this week. She also said that many consumers may not have access to their premium finance contracts, and finance companies should supply copies upon request.
A band of powerful twisters hit the southwestern part of Kentucky on Dec. 10, damaging hundreds of properties and killing 77 people. Finance companies now have until Jan. 10 to allow extension of payment deadlines, although state officials may allow further extensions after that, Clark said.
The commissioner said that the department has received inquiries about whether finance companies can extend time periods and payment deadlines. The answer is “yes,” but with caveats.
“In light of the state of emergency declared by Gov. Beshear in Executive Order 2021-923, insurance premium finance companies are permitted to extend time periods that, when extended, will be for the benefit of their customers,” Clark’s bulletin reads. “Such extensions should be for reasonable time periods that will not result in a financial hardship on consumers when the payments become due after the extensions have expired.”
Finance companies that offer the extensions should let the department know, via email to Rob.Roberts@ky.gov.
Photo: A resident surveys damage to a home following the Dec. 10 tornado in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. (AP photo.)
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