Homeowners Finding It Hard to Keep Insurance
Yet another negative consequence of Hurricane Katrina has been the mass cancellation of thousands of homeowner policies. Allstate has begun canceling the homeowner policies of some 300,000 people in the coastal counties of New York and they are not alone. Other major insurers such as Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. is no longer writing new policies on the eastern half of Long Island, N.Y., while MetLife Inc. is requiring extra inspections and expensive storm shutters for new customers living within 5 miles of salt water.
With reinsurers raising the rates on insurance companies, many are deciding to cut any potential future losses and pull out before another hurricane or massive storm front can take its toll. Unfortunately, this is leaving very few options available to homeowners in those impacted areas. What few options are still available are costing homeowners two to three times more than what they have paid in the past.