Insurance Companies Could Soon be Required to be More Transparent
Paulette Mowbray, like many homeowners, saw her insurance premium double and triple after Hurricane Katrina. Mowbray was building a new home when the disaster struck. She says, “And as a result of it, everything I negotiated as far as my monthly payment was concerned, including the insurance rates, were much, much lower than what I ended up having to sign up for.”
Now Mowbray is working with local advocates to get the Clarity Act passed through the Mississippi legislature. The bill, like the ones passed in Alabama and Louisiana, would require insurance companies to report total premiums and losses throughout the state, broken down by zip code. Governor Phil Bryant says, “This is ten years since Katrina. It’s been well past the time that the industry needs to adapt and understand that this is an area where we need a fair insurance rate to grow our businesses.”
Advocates of the bill say abandoned properties that were left after Katrina would benefit from the transparency in insurance premiums, but those against the bill say it could lead to cost shifting and higher insurance premiums in north Mississippi.
Regardless of possible negative results, the Governor says the Coast cannot fully recover unless there is a fair playing field. Bryant closes, “I noticed just today for example, we’re at record numbers of home sales in south Mississippi, but that won’t continue unless we have a fair market for homeowners insurance.”
While the Clarity Act won’t adjust rates, it will provide hard numbers so homeowners can measure for themselves how their premiums compare to their neighbors statewide. A version of the bill has been voted on in a House committee and will be taken up in the Senate sometime this month.
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