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Coastal insurance woes affect all of Alabama and should be addressed Homeowners and vacation homeowners along the Alabama coast were hit hard by Hurricanes Dennis, Ivan, Katrina and others in recent years. Insurance companies took a licking too, so hard, evidently, that many are pulling away from insuring properties along the beaches and coastal areas. Just last week, Alabama's largest home insurance provider, State Farm, announced it would not renew coverage for about 2,600 policy holders, mainly in Alabama's beach resorts. The next two largest insurers, Alfa Insurance and Allstate had earlier either dropped coastal policies or announced their intentions to do so. Many of our readers own vacation homes, investment condos and other properties in the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach areas. The lack of insurance- or the high price of what can be found- is going to be a hardship for many and could have a negative ripple effect on the local economy and the rest of the state as well, including our $8 billion tourist industry. We certainly don't know what the answer to the problem is but we are encouraged by new Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Hinton Mitchem's call for Gov. Bob Riley to consider a special legislative session to address the cancellations and skyrocketing costs. "The Alabama Gulf coast is too important to the economic and social well-being of our entire state to allow the unavailability or excessive cost of property insurance to depress the recovery of this vital effort," said the Democrat who hails from Union Grove. While he lives way up state, Sen. Mitchem does own property in Orange Beach. Sen. Mitchem has suggested that a special session could be called within the regular session that begins March 6. That way, legislators could focus on the problem and it won't cost the state any additional money. The Florida Legislature recently passed laws designed to curb rapid increases in insurance premiums due to recent hurricanes and Sen. Mitchem appears to have eyed that legislation in calling for action in Alabama.
Some may think that the problem affects only those with coastal properties but the problem is much larger than that and has the potential of adversely affecting the entire state. We hope Gov. Riley will give Sen. Mitchem's suggestion serious consideration.
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