I had a minute and surfed Chip Merlin’s blog and found a couple of very interesting posts. The first one is here. In it Chip talks about the Senate vote on Multi Peril Insurance.
If another hurricane the size of Katrina or stronger strikes a metropolitan area this summer or fall, I am certain that we will have a repeat of the litigation and problems associated with Katrina. On May 8, the United States Senate voted against increasing the role of the National Flood Insurance Program to include coverage for ”wind” peril……..The Senators supporting the measure were from the coastal states most effected by hurricanes. These southern Senators and their constituency are increasingly facing the problem that private property insurance carriers will not sell a policy that covers the perils posed by a hurricane.
I met with Gene Taylor, a United States Representative from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, in early 2007 regarding this problem. Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home and those of friends. He understood that coastal policyholders with complete destruction were only getting the flood damage paid for under the coverage purchased through the National Flood Program. Despite homes miles inland being paid signicant benefits under their all risk coverage from wind damage, coastal insureds suffering from a combination of wind and flood were generally getting paid pennies on the dollar for wind related damage. He and other coastal Representatives believe that the only solution available is to make available a policy that covers both the water and wind perils which occur during a hurricane. As I previously stated, the Senate voted against such coverage.
The experience of Gene Taylor is accurate. Continue reading “Catching up with Chip Merlin”