Proof in numbers: Commissioner agrees to compare property insurance premiums vs. losses across MS
LONG BEACH — A growing coalition of Coast property owners is pressing for state legislation that would require insurance companies to report what they pay in claims by ZIP code. But Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney told the Sun Herald on Wednesday he will order up the numbers without a legislative mandate.
Legislators in Alabama and Louisiana already required insurance companies to report premiums and losses paid by ZIP code. In Mississippi, bill sponsor Scott Delano of Biloxi said Chaney withdrew his support after the legislation passed the House. It died for lack of a compromise.
Chaney said the bill, as originally written, was no good. In Alabama, the Homeowners Hurricane Insurance Initiative, a coalition of churches, used the numbers to show that coast homeowners are being overcharged for property insurance based on losses reported in all areas of the state.
Sunherald
10/30/14
