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Everyone's insurance across the state is gonna go up, and no one is sure how much right now. The NC Legislature is working on several bills, and who knows what the final regs will include. However, there is no doubt about it . . . everyone's homeowner insurance is going up - all across the state, to pick up the costs of replacing damaged beach property.
It had to happen, as this is what has occurred with insurance in other coastal states heavily hit by hurricane damage in the past.
Frankly, those $1M and up McMansions on the beach should have never been constructed and I don't appreciate my rates going up b/c of the conspicuous consumerism which has been rampant from Duck to Southport. And what is even more infuriating, many of these beachfront homeowners are not even residents of this state. But their over-building is gonna cost us all.
All Homeowners To Foot Coastal Insurance Losses Under Proposed Plan - News- msnbc.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32013939/ns/local_news-winstonsalem_nc/ - broken link)
GREENSBORO - WXII12.com
Excerpt:
You may not own a home on the North Carolina coast, but state lawmakers think you should help insure beachfront homes from the next major storm.
Supporters of the "Beach Plan" said neither the insurance industry nor North Carolina homeowners can afford the present system.
Forsyth County Republican Dale Folwell said the exposure insurance companies face on the coast has forced some of them to consider leaving the state altogether. Two companies have already pulled out of the state citing the unlimited liability they face under the current law.
The plan has already passed the State House and is soon to be debated in the Senate.
Under the plan, if a major hurricane does hit the coast, homeowners across the state will pay a 10 percent surcharge on their annual insurance premiums to bail the state-created program.
The plan would cap losses paid by the insurance industry at $1 billion. Currently there’s no cap on damages in North Carolina
NC Senate OK sets up hurricane insurance plan fix - Politics - News & Observer (http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1635051.html - broken link)
"The Beach Plan affects the entire homeowners insurance market in North Carolina," state Insurance Department lobbyist Rose Vaughn Williams told senators. "It's not just mansions in the sand."
**** <snip>
"It's the number one issue in my county," said Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow. He said the insurance for his $450,000 home in Jacksonville, about 10 miles from the coast, had jumped from $1,200 annually to more than $3,700 in about four years.
Homeowners in rural communities farther inland in his county have been hit with the same sharp rate increases as more affluent beach-front communities, Brown said.
"A lot of them are not going to be able to renew their policies," he said.
But lawmakers from outside the coastal zone have gotten an earful from constituents angry about the chance they might someday bear the cost of making whole the people lucky enough to live near the shore. *
(My note)
A sizeable portion of these McMansions are retirees who moved to this state to take advantage of the lower taxes. Thanks a lot, guys!!!! And another large % are absentee second-home owners, who get rental income off these 7 bedrooms houses. I am sorry. The municipalities who were stupid enough to allow this type of over-building in weather-vulnerable beach areas should be fired - something I have been saying since this outrageous practice started in the late 80s and became rampant over the last 15 years. Not only has this been damaging to many sensitive eco-systems in our coastal regions, now these McMansions on the Beach are gonna cost the rest of us.
Maybe the thing to do is put a caveat into the insurance bill that would provide coverage ONCE and refuse to cover any of these homes with value over $1M. If they get washed away once . . . then they just wouldn't be built back again. I say - GOOD RIDDANCE. Better for the environment; better for the residents of this entire state!!!
Last edited by brokensky; 08-09-2009 at 07:54 AM..
GRRRRREEEEAAAAT!!! . That's Why I moved from Florida...outrageous homesowners insurance...if people on the damn coast want their homes, and insurance, let them pay for themselves - this blows!
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,698,410 times
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These clowns haven't heard of beach tag fees to pay for community problems on the coast? Oh, yeah, they have. That would be why, from January to July nearly every commercial break that runs on the Philly stations includes NC tourism ads touting "our free beaches".
As for the houses, if you have the big bucks to buy a million dollar house, you have the money to pay the insurance hike when you build it in a stupid place.
Who do we contact to tell them we think this plan is not what we would expect from our elected officials? If they vote for this I won't be electing them in the future. We all should take the same stand.
Sheesh! What a bad idea. We are facing higher school taxes out here to pay for a district that split in half b/c the richer east side didn't want to be associated w/the poorer west side. Now we all get to help out the west side, just as you are all going to "help" out the rich coastal owners. It ain't right!
Location: livin' the good life on America's favorite island
2,221 posts, read 4,394,149 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wheelsup
Who do we contact to tell them we think this plan is not what we would expect from our elected officials? If they vote for this I won't be electing them in the future. We all should take the same stand.
While you're talking to the NC leaders tell them we haven't yet digested the 2-3% increase in income tax (I haven't checked but I bet we are in the top 5 highest taxed states) and 1% increase in sales tax that' already a done deal
The bill is the result of our wise leaders trying to figure out how to keep more insurance carriers from refusing to even insure in our state! I am so angry at the idiot city planners in coastal counties who allowed these monstrosities to be built in the first place.
Something has to be done or carriers are gonna pull out of the state - leaving many of us all over the state without an insurance carrier when policy renewal time comes.
"It's the number one issue in my county," said Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow. He said the insurance for his $450,000 home in Jacksonville, about 10 miles from the coast, had jumped from $1,200 annually to more than $3,700 in about four years.
Hmmmm....I wonder what guys like this said when gas was >$4 per gallon and folks with $36,000 SUV's were complaining about how much it cost to fill up? Personally, I have a hard time drumming up sympathy for either of them.
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