Mississippi coast group pushes for passage of bill to disclose insurance costs (updated)
JACKSON, Mississippi — A group of lawmakers and residents from the Mississippi Gulf Coast are again pushing a bill that would require insurance companies to disclose how much they’re charging to insure property by geographic area.
The idea, which originated in Alabama, is meant to provide evidence to people who are fighting for lower insurance rates. The theory is that coastal residents are being overcharged and that public data will prove it. Whether rates are fair, though is still a subject of dispute in places where data has been published.
“What we want to see is some premium data on some geographic basis so we can compare it to loss data and see if we’re toting a disproportionate share of the risk,” said Charles Busby, R-Pascagoula.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, a Republican, has agreed to seek such data from companies on a one-time basis. But lawmakers say they want to ensure the data is gathered over multiple years. DeLano said it was important to legally mandate a simple and cost-effective data collection.
Gulflive
1/21/15
Magnolia Tribune
