Maryland To Hold Hearing on Insurance Affordability for Coastal Areas

Maryland Insurance Administration will hold a two-day quasi-legislative public hearing, on Dec. 13 and 14, to discuss the availability and affordability for personal and commercial P/C insurance in coastal areas.

Several insurance carriers have limited — or stopped altogether — writing new or renewed personal and commercial P/C insurance policies in various coastal areas in the state, said Maryland Insurance Administration.

Additionally, some carriers have adopted underwriting standards that offer or require a deductible equal to a percentage of the “Coverage A Dwelling Limit” of the policy in the case of a hurricane or other storm in certain coastal areas.

These changes have prompted Insurance Commissioner Therese Goldsmith to set up this hearing to gather information regarding the current availability and affordability, according to the Maryland Insurance Administration.

Some of the issues to be discussed include: the current number of admitted carriers, excess and surplus lines carriers, residual market mechanisms, captives and reinsurers offering property and casualty insurance products in coastal areas; the rates and deductibles offered per carrier in coastal areas; and the effectiveness, cost, and long-term viability of alternative market mechanisms, such as limited coverage products, wind pools, the expansion of residual market mechanisms, and catastrophe funds that have been implemented or are being considered in other states or by the federal government.