A bill to alter a state-created insurance plan known as the Beach Plan has passed its first legislative hurdle in the state House.
The bill, which moves to the House Finance Committee after winning the endorsement of Insurance Committee members on Tuesday, calls for homeowners across the state to bail out the Beach Plan if a catastrophic storm along the coast generates more claims than the Beach Plan can afford to pay. The Beach Plan insures nearly 176,000 coastal properties valued at $73.6 billion.
Moving forward, what is contentious is the trigger point at which homeowners across the state would be assessed a surcharge of up to 10 percent of their annual homeowners insurance premiums.
Other controversial items in the bill are a reduction of the coverage limits of Beach Plan homeowners policies from $1.5 million to $750,000 and an increase in the premiums paid by Beach Plan customers.
Read the full story.
Blog RSS feed
Re: Beach Plan in time for the 4th?
You don't get it. We are tired of subsidizing you. The insurance industry is raping the 18 coastal counties charging us 3 to 4 times what the rate is inland and then discounting policies inland. 74% of the wind damage claims over the past twenty years are the inland counties. No one has told you how they took the money year after year and never built up the reserves and now are crying poverty. What they have done is start a territory war. Insurance is based on spreading the risk. That means the clean up after Hazel, Hugo and Floyd. There has not been a hurricane in 5 years so what have they done with the money? I will tell you that a big chunk has gone to lobbyists and PR firms to spread the lies that you are believing. I am not a rich coastal owner. I paid 100K for my house in 1991, the insurance was $600 and now it is $4000 and they want 22% more. I leave 10 miles from the coast.I work for a living and getting tired of being referred to as a rich beach house owner. This argument is not about living at the beach, it is about living in Columbia or Elizabeth City or Little Washington or New Bern. It is not about the Oceanfront. Get your facts straight