Top Southeast Insurance Journal Stories of 2023

Outside of the turbulent state of Florida, the Southeastern U.S. saw its share of insurance issues, from carriers pulling out of Georgia to roof-matching requirements in Kentucky to liquor liability problems in South Carolina and dog bites in Alabama. (See our Jan. 2 edition for the top Florida stories of 2023.)

1. Farmers Forced to Rescind Thousands of Nonrenewal Notices in Georgia

About the same time that it announced a major pull-back from the Florida and California markets, Farmers Insurance also sent thousands of nonrenewal notices to Georgia homeowners. In Georgia, though, the carrier appears to have misunderstood the state’s rather unique law on nonrenewals – and was forced to backtrack. Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King put out a bulletin in July saying Farmers had rescinded the nonrenewal notices that were mailed to homeowners that month. The nonrenewals explained that if the home’s roof was 15 years old or more, Farmers would no longer write the property. That’s not allowed under Georgia statute 33-24-46, which forbids carriers from changing underwriting guidelines or eligibility rules for existing policies unless the changes apply to an entire class or territory and has been approved by the commissioner’s office.

2. Kentucky Clarifies Matching Law While Florida Insurers Get Limits on Roof Replacement

Matching requirements for roofs and interior furnishings have been a tough issue in the property insurance industry for years. Recent developments show how insurers and regulators in different Southeast states are managing the mandates. In Kentucky, the state Department of Insurance in October posted an advisory opinion, attempting to clarify the intent of the state’s matching statute. On the one hand, Kentucky law does not permit a “line of sight” rule for roofs: “If the shingles on one slant of a residential roof must be replaced due to damage covered by an applicable property insurance policy, and absent the availability of matching shingles that would render the slant in question reasonably uniform to the remainder of the roof, then an entirely new roof must be installed,” state Insurance Commissioner Sharon Clark wrote in her Oct. 17 bulletin. In Florida, where insurers have blamed a cottage industry of roof scams for helping to implode the insurance industry, several carriers are now relying on newly accepted endorsements to limit what they will pay to match non-damaged materials. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation in recent months has approved policy forms filed by no fewer than eight property insurers, which limit the amount the carriers will pay to replace undamaged materials to create a matching, uniform appearance after repairs, state records show.

3. South Carolina Bars, Eateries Closing Down for Lack of Affordable Liability Coverage

Wanted in South Carolina: $1 million in liquor liability coverage at an affordable premium to prevent closure of establishment. That’s the type of advertisement one can imagine bars and bistros across the Palmetto State running this fall, as the full impact of state laws become painfully clear. A million-dollar liquor liability insurance requirement, along with South Carolina’s joint-and-several tort statute that can hold a dram shop liable for millions in damages – plus the result of some recent high-profile lawsuits – has had insurance agents and brokers scrambling to find coverage for some of the state’s favorite watering holes and restaurants. “It’s just out of hand. It’s a crazy thing,” said Tom Bates, market president of the Stokes-Farnham Insurance Agency in Greenville. “I’ve tried to go to the standard market first, but if you have any kind of hair on your account, you have to go to the excess and surplus market.”

4. Insurer Avoids Dog Bite Claim Brought by Homeowner Selling Firearms Out of Garage

Nationwide General Insurance has avoided payment of a dog bite claim filed by a homeowner it insured who ran a firearms business out of his garage. A federal district court for Alabama ruled in June that the business exclusions in all three Nationwide policies issued to David Hope applied, even though the man his dog bit was as much a friend as he was a customer and there was no money involved in the transaction taking place when the dog bit him.

5. Allstate Loses $17M Carolina Job Incentive Plan Due to So Many Remote Workers

Allstate Insurance is no longer eligible for one of the largest incentive packages from the state of North Carolina, created when Allstate pledged to add more than 2,200 workers in Charlotte. The insurance carrier said too many remote workers made the in-person jobs requirement impracticable. The state’s Economic Investment Committee agreed in July to end a 2017 incentives agreement with Allstate, which could have pocketed as much as $17.8 million in cash if it met job-creation goals, the Associated Press and other news outlets reported.