The Massachusetts Division of Insurance recently rejected arequest by the state’s largest commercial home insurer that couldhave cost customers more money to deal with damages from winterweather, The Boston Globe reported

Webster, Mass.-based insurer Mapfre USA Corp. wanted to add adeductible and require consumers to pay as much as $10,000 of thecosts of repairing ice-dam damage before the its coverage kickedin. It was the first time an insurer has proposed an ice-damdeductible, which regulators earlier this month rejected as vagueand unfair, The Globe reported.

The plan would have provided consumers with few protections,leaving it to Mapfre, as opposed to independent agencies, todetermine whether costly home repairs were tied to ice dams, saidChris Goetcheus, a spokesman for the state’s Division of Insurance.The ice-dam deductible would have been in addition to the standarddeductible on homeowner policies.

The insurance division rarely disapproves rate and relatedfilings by commercial insurers, and that record has come underscrutiny recently. Earlier this year, regulators agreed tosignificant premium increases on home insurance, which thecompanies blamed on the mountains of claims they received followinglast winter’s record snow and other severe weather in recent years,according to The Globe.

Mapfre, which raised home insurance rates by an average of about9%, said that its ice-dam proposal was fair, but it will abide bythe state’s decision. Mapfre insures 215,000 homeowners inMassachusetts.

Mapfre planned to offer the separate ice-dam deductible as anoption to customers who have had multiple ice-dam claims in thepast few years and whose policies were in danger of being canceledby the insurance company, Matthew Wilcox, a senior vice president,told the newspaper.

Under Mapfre’s proposal, if consumers agreed to a $10,000deductible on an ice-dam claim, they would receive a $100 discounton their annual premium. Homeowners who did not agree to thedeductible would probably not have been covered for ice-damdamage.

Ice dams became a significant problem in the state last winteras relentless snows blanketed the area. Icedams form on roofs as snow melts and refreezes, preventing properdrainage and leading to leaks that damage interior walls andceilings. Ice dams contributed to the nearly $1 billion ininsurance losses sustained in Massachusetts last winter, The Globesaid.

Related: 4 ways to lessen winter insurancewoes

Ice-dam deductibles are unusual, but insurance companies haveintroduced separate deductibles for damage from wind, hail, andhurricanes, Robert Hartwig, president of the New YorkCity-basedInsurance Information Institute, told the newspaper.

Insurance companies tend to introduce separate deductibles forhomeowner policies after being hit with significant losses, Hartwigsaid. For example, after Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida in 1992and caused about $15.5 billion in insurance losses, companiestacked on hurricane deductibles.

Related: Boston's snow job

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