Windpool keeps on growing

The Clarion-Ledger, 1/29/9

The number of Mississippians receiving coverage from the the state-funded insurer of last resort continues to grow monthly.

Some 42,000 people use the windpool and about 800 new policies are added monthly on average, Joe Shumaker, manager of the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriters Association, told the Senate Insurance Committee.

“Unfortunately, the windpool is alive and well,” Shumaker said. “We are still growing.”

It’s not clear how many of those policies are for people living along the Coast versus elsewhere in the state.

An average 11 percent reduction in windpool rates took effect last summer, but it could be difficult to lower rates this year, Shumaker said.