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Article #79: Insurance Companies Our Fair Weather Friends

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As the hurricane season gets underway, put the entire company with all it's
thousands of homeowners have started policyholders from all over the country
receiving unwanted letters from Allstate at risk. There reasoning behind this
Insurance. The letter begins with, "We're policy is even though the Northeast has
writing to you with what we know is not had a direct hit from a hurricane in
unfortunate news about your Allstate many decades, the high replacement value
Insurance. The letter then went on to of homes in their portfolio would make
say, their home was being dropped from them vulnerable.
cover because it's in the path of future The biggest irony for me after last
hurricanes. year's storm is that the insurance
You may well think that this reader lives companies had just reported a record $43
in New Orleans or Florida, but you would billion profit for the year 2005. The
be wrong this reader lives in New York. Insurance Information Institute, a trade
The full impact of Hurricane Katrina is group reported that this was an 11.7
now being felt many hundreds of miles percent increase over the previous year
away from where it first made land last and was in fact the highest net income
year. Many insurers are now scrambling to since 1991.
reduce their exposure to any future Why is it that we as homeowners are asked
hurricanes that could hit their to remain loyal to these caring
shareholders profit. companies, our friends with safe hands.
Allstate the nations number 2 insurer is We are requested to pay up ever
canceling more than 30,000 homeowners increasing amounts of money without
insurance in and around the coastal question every year, many of us have
counties of New York. The reason for this never made any claims, but as soon as
action they say is the the need to there COULD, MIGHT be a problem we are
protect themselfs from future storms. dumped without a second thought.
They (Allstate) of course are not the If they (the insurers) spent less of our
only major insurance company to do this money on all that very expensive TV
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. is also advertising, telling us How Wonderful
no longer writing new policies on the they were going to be when we needed them
eastern half of Long Island, N.Y. the most there would be no need to cancel
Should we really be surprised by this our policies.
type of action, no it's a strategy they What they are doing to us is Legalized
have used before. In 1992 after Hurricane Mugging they may as well write polices
Andrew most of the insurers scaled back with the title NO CLAIMS POLICY. After
their presence in Florida. This forced all we wouldn't want their shareholders
thousands of local residents into using to lose any sleep over the possibility of
the expensive state-run insurance pool. paying out on claims that could hit their
These companies go to great lengths to profits.
point out that a single event like Have an opinion or a question you would
Hurricane Katrina could wipe out years of like me to answer, then write me!
savings. This they stress could very well






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