The wind pool initially requested a rate increase of nearly 400 percent because of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Dale deemed the initial premium increase “unacceptable”.
Dale did comment on the necessity of the current increase, “an increase is necessary in order to maintain the stability of the program. Without the wind pool, many residents would be unable to get any wind coverage due to a number of companies choosing not to write the wind on the coast.''
The wind pool covers around 16,000 homeowners, “primarily in the three coastal counties”. It was created “by the state Legislature to provide wind and hail insurance for coast property owners who could not obtain private insurance.” The number of people insured by the wind pool is expected to increase significantly due to the fact fewer private insurance companies are returning to the Gulf Coast.
I am extremely disgusted with windstorm insurance. 1 year ago my windstorm was 799.00. Now it is 1700.00. I think it is horrible how Hurricane Katrina survivors are just being taken advantage of since the storm. I can not afford my insurance nor can I afford the increase in payment if I escrow my insurance so I now have to sell my house and apply for government assistance just to live. We are going from bad to worse.
Posted by: Maria Dickinson | August 7, 2007 3:01 PM | Permalink to Comment