East Coast Homeowners lose-Ins Co's Retreat

[katty]

cont'd: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13482727/

Katrina's impact felt far from destruction zone

East Coast homeowners lose coverage as insurance companies retreat
Hurricane Katrina may have made landfall on the Gulf Coast, but its impact is being felt hundreds of miles away, as insurers scramble to insulate themselves from future catastrophes.
Updated: 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
The letter begins: “We’re writing to you with what we know is unfortunate news about your Allstate Insurance.”

Startled, Marie Collins reached for her glasses, then a magnifying glass and pored over the letter, realizing with a sinking feeling this isn’t a standard mailing from the company that insures her home.

It was a cancellation. Her home was being dropped, the letter said, because it’s in the path of future hurricanes.


But Collins doesn’t live in New Orleans or even Florida. She lives in New York City.

[FloridaPat]

1. Take the profits and run. Maybe it's time for universal insurance

in all areas. Some fellow had a great idea for auto insurance a few years back - a couple of extra pennies tied to the sale of gasoline.

[katty]

2. good idea-why not?I'm already paying 8.25 sales tax in CA

[eleny]

3. Yet they still made huge profits

Here's a paragraph from the second page of the article:
"One of the ironies of last year’s storm is that insurance companies reported a record $43 billion profit in 2005 — an 11.7 percent increase over the previous year and the highest net income since 1991, according to the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group."

[Warpy]

4. My pop's house was on a barrier island off the coast

of Florida and his insurance was Allstate. I'm quite sure it was cancelled.

I'm just glad I decided to sell rather than move there, and I'm glad it sold quickly, long before either fire or hurricane seasons.