Mississippi wind pool insurance rates are set to increase at the end of the year, the first time the state's insurer of last resort has raised prices on renewals and new business since Hurricane Katrina.
A Mississippi Insurance Department filing shows that rates will increase by 3.2 percent for homeowners and by 5 percent for commercial policies by Dec. 1, impacting the approximately 44,000 policies written by the wind pool.
According to the local Sun-Herald newspaper, Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney says he is aware that this will further affect coastal residents burdened by proposed hikes in flood insurance costs, and urges that fortifying structures against hurricane damage can lead to premium reductions of up to 50 percent in the wind pool, and by 30 percent in the private market.
Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association (MWUA) manager Joe Shumaker was quoted in the article saying that, prior to Katrina, the wind pool consisted of about 17,000 policies and climbed to about 46,000 as private insurers began to decline coastal wind coverage. This number dropped by about 4 percent in 2012.
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