Homeowners' Insurance Legislation

The House LCI Subcommittee on Insurance gave a favorable report on Thursday to H. 3820, the Omnibus Coastal Property Insurance Reform Act of 2007. The bill contains provisions that would: create catastrophe savings accounts, force insurers to give mitigation credits, establish incentives for insurance companies to write additional policies in the wind and hail pool zone, clarify the practices and procedures of the Wind and Hail Underwriting Association, establish a mitigation grant program, expand the cancellation notice period to 60 days, and force insurers to reveal catastrophe models used to the Department of Insurance. Working with the Department of Insurance and the Subcommittee members, SCAR was able to successfully amend several sections of this legislation to make it more meaningful to more homeowners. The bill now moves to the full LCI Committee for consideration next week, and SCAR will continue to work to make insurance reform a reality. The Senate gave third reading this week to S. 499, the South Carolina Coastal Captive Insurance Act. The bill would allow for the formation of captive insurance companies to write primary and excess wind and storm surge property insurance coverage, essentially allowing large commercial projects to self-insure by holding capital reserves in excess of $1 million. Companion legislation to H. 3820 was also introduced in the Senate on Wednesday by Senators Campsen, McConnell, McGill, Rankin, Grooms, Elliott, Ford, Ryberg, Scott and Pinckney.