Insurers on the fritzNancy Mann Jackson
After several record hurricane seasons, 20 percent of homes on
the Alabama coast are without any wind insurance, according to Carl
Schneider, owner of Schneider Insurance Agency Inc., Mobile, Ala.,
and member of Alabama's Affordable Homeowner's Insurance
Commission. This lack of insurance is becoming more
common—and problematic—as insurance companies adjust
their risk models to account for increased potential payouts caused
by changing weather patterns. As storms become more frequent and
severe, the new models translate into staggering rate increases or
companies' unwillingness to write policies in U.S. coastal
areas.
Storms are expensive
The four largest insurance companies—Alfa Insurance,®
Allstate® Insurance Co., Nationwide® Mutual Insurance Co.
and State Farm Insurance®—have cancelled 50,000 policies
in coastal Alabama, Schneider says. When the next storm comes
through, homeowners without insurance will be hard-pressed to
afford repairs caused by the storm—and that's bad news for
your roofing business.
Unfortunately, coastal Alabama isn't the only area affected.
Changing weather patterns have led to increasing numbers of
tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes across the U.S. These storms
result in an overwhelming number of homeowner's insurance claims,
leaving many insurance companies to cut costs...
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