(MOBILE, Ala.) Nov. 11 - Insurance companies have dropped roughly 25,000 people in South Alabama. Even more people have seen their rates skyrocket. We ask, what the state's new insurance commissioner going to do to help your bottom line? It may not be the answer you want to hear.
Milton and Sue Lassiter didn't see much damage from Hurricane Katrina, but they're sure seeing the effects of the storm on their homeowner's premium.
The Lassiter's didn't file a claim after Katrina. The only claim they have filed was in 1979, after Hurricane Frederick slammed Mobile. And yet they're still being dropped by their insurance company.
"I don't think its fair with us only having one claim in some 30 years and they won't renew it," said Sue Lassiter.
At a town hall meeting in Theodore, new Alabama insurance commissioner Jim Ridling heard plenty of stories, just like the Lassiter's.
The question is:
"What are you going to do for the people like me?" asked Mary Gaffney.
"It will not be one quick fix cause that doesn't exist," said Alabama Insurance Commissioner Jim Ridling.
"But you're reluctant to ask companies to lower their rates?" asked NBC 15's Andrea Ramey.
"Well, I can ask them. I can even twist their arm, but again I'm reluctant to tell people what to charge for their product," said Ridling.
Ridling says if the state forces changes on companies, they could pack up and leave Alabama for good. Instead, Commissioner Ridling had to tell a room full of struggling families, they'd have to stretch the almighty dollar even further. Because change won't come anytime soon.
With major companies like Allstate, State Farm, and Farmer's either dropping wind coverage or not offering to write new policies, we wanted to know who would. We called around and several agents told us the two options are the state pool, otherwise known as the insurer of last resort, and a company called Geovera out of California.
The commissioner did say he was in favor of some type of subsidy that would help people pay for their insurance in Mobile and Baldwin Counties. But he says the state is a long way off from passing any type of relief legislation.
