Thousands Lose Wind Coverage
(BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala.) Dec. 2 - It's bad news for thousands of homeowners along the Gulf Coast, Allstate and Alfa insurance companies are dropping wind coverage from thousands of policies in Mobile and Baldwin County.
Fourteen thousand homeowners in Mobile and Baldwin County will be receiving a letter over the next year and a half saying their wind coverage has been dropped by Allstate or Alfa.
Paula Gonzalez just hopes she's not one of them. "It's ridiculous."
Gonzalez thought by living north of Interstate 10 in Spanish Fort, she was immune to cancellation, but after several years of rate hikes and watching so many others lose coverage, she's learning that everyone is vulnerable. "Raising the rate, raising what they won't cover any more. What are we going to do. I mean our house is going to blow away and we're going to be homeless."
The Insurance Center in Robertsdale says homeowners facing policy cancellation need to make some phone calls.
"They really just need to call around because you might get a lot of no's but you might find the company you need," insurance agent Kim Owens said.
Owens says there aren't a lot of options when companies like Allstate or Alfa drop you because so many companies aren't writing new policies, which leaves only the beach pool and what's called surplus companies.
"The only down side to surplus lines, they're not protected by the state. If they were to liquidate or file bankruptcy, they would have no protection for your claim," Owens said.
If you go that route, with say Lloyd's of London or GeoVera, Owens says to find out what the company's A.M. Best rating is to ensure you're protected. Something Gonzalez may be checking herself, if she receives that dreaded letter in the mail.
The state says since Hurricane Ivan hit five years ago, roughly 30,000 people have been dropped by their insurance company in Mobile and Baldwin County.
The state says pre-Ivan, 2,900 homeowners were in the beach pool. Today, there are 14,400.
