People have been asking about insurer's non-renewing in areas across our nation and even our own footprint in Indiana. Long story short, yes, it is happening. Companies are pulling out of areas and non-renewing people in high-risk zones. It is why it is in the news so much with situations like California and Florida seeing loss of home insurers in their states that suffer catastrophic events. Even in Indiana we see multiple CAT wind, hail, and tornado events every year. We technically live in a catastrophic storm state. States like Iowa are having trouble with insurer's leaving so it is not just a coastal issue it is a catastrophic storm payout issue, where we've seen repeated catastrophes year after year and storms are on the rise. I'm going to be honest, I'm not really sure how this industry will respond in the short term outside of constant increased cost of insurance. What I do know is that changes are going to have to be made. You can't price level constant catastrophe, no company can. It's time to drill down how we provide coverage for people in catastrophic areas without putting an insurance carrier under. At the same time the insurance industry can't obtain re-insurance on properties in that area, so they are protected it is a perfect storm. One that legislation, insurance carriers need to work on quickly.
Heather Harris
I’m Heather Gibson Harris, owner of Brookson Insurance, which I started in 2009 after a career as a claims adjuster for personal home and commercial insureds. My career has been my passion for many years, especially my time in catastrophe claim work.