The insurance industry's reaction to Hurricane Katrina was insufficient and, in some cases, only made the situation worse for policyholders, according to a report issued yesterday by the group Americans for Insurance Reform.

Insurance trade groups denied there was any failure and the American Insurance Association in Washington labeled the study "untrue, irresponsible and reckless."

Joanne Doroshow, one of AIR's co-founders and the executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy, said the report "shows that many policyholders who were exhausted, traumatized, and without food, water or a roof over their heads, looked to their insurance carriers to come to their aid as they struggled to survive--but what many found was not help at all, but rather resistance by insurance companies to pay them anything, leaving victims frustrated and angry, not to mention destitute."

AIR said the report, titled "The Insurance Industry's Troubling Response to Hurricane Katrina," was based on "hundreds of calls" to its toll-free hotline established Sept. 12, 2005.

Joe Annotti, a spokesman for the Property and Casualty Insurers Association of America, said that while the group had not yet seen the full report, many of the problems seen in the wake of the major hurricanes were due to the unprecedented scope of the catastrophes.

In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma and others, he said there were an unprecedented 2 million catastrophe claims.

AIR said among the most common problems consumers faced were attempts to avoid liability by insurers claiming that all damages were caused by flooding, which is not covered in homeowners' policies.

Additionally, the AIR study said that many policyholders complained of getting a slow response that allowed for more damage from Hurricane Rita or no response from their insurers at all.

"Insurance should be a policyholder's road to recovery at times of personal crisis," said Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America and an AIR co-founder. "After Katrina many insurance companies have too often been more like stone walls, blocking the way for policyholders to recover."

Mr. Annotti said in large portions of the devastated area "adjusters just could not get [there] because the civil authorities wouldn't let them," so they worked first in less damaged outlying areas.

The AIR report claimed the property-casualty insurance industry is using the damages from the hurricanes as a basis for unfair rate increases and exiting certain areas.

"It is vital that the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas take firm steps now to assure homeowners that insurance will be available and affordable as the next hurricane season approaches," Mr. Hunter said.

The study proposes a moratorium on cancellations and nonrenewals of homeowners' insurance policies to provide states time to develop a solution for those homes unable to find coverage on the private market.

AIR also called for a freeze on home insurance prices, mitigation measures that prohibit or control construction in high risk zones, and market conduct examinations to examine the claims practices of companies in the aftermath of the hurricanes.

Mr. Annotti said rates reflect risk and are set prospectively. "You can't go back and say, 'well, we lost a lot of money in New Orleans,' and try to raise rates to make that back." He also doubted that regulators who approve rates are "going to approve a rate that he or she feels isn't actuarially justified."

John Marlow, AIA assistant vice president, said: "Tens of thousands of insurance company employees have worked around the clock" to settle Katrina claims despite a "total lack of communication infrastructure," and "hundreds of thousands" of claims were handled quickly and fully.

"It is misleading and possibly deceptive to allege that a small collection of one-sided, anecdotal conversations from a telephone hotline comprises 'research.' It is the height of irresponsibility to use such supposed 'research' to smear an entire sector of the financial services community," said Mr. Marlow.

He noted that "water damage has been broadly excluded from state-approved homeowners insurance policies for decades" and is covered by the National Flood Insurance Program.

Mr. Marlow said state insurance regulators have taken a very active role in all of the Gulf States to protect consumer rights while making sure that insurers can stay in business in their states and pay valid claims.

"AIR is off the mark in using the industry's financial health as an excuse to implement regulatory restrictions that could destroy state insurance markets," he commented.

Special Reports /

Insurers Blew Katrina Response, Report Claims

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