Sunday, March 23, 2008Between 2001 and 2005, homeowners insurance rates in Alabama jumped by 69.1 percent -- the second-largest rise nationally -- pushing the state's average premium for the most common kind of homeowners insurance well above the national norm, according to figures from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Only Minnesota, with a 70.3 percent increase, was worse.
The high prices come despite the fact that Alabamians have lower incomes and are typically insuring less expensive homes than in most other states.
Since 2005, the pain for homeowners in Mobile and Baldwin counties has continued to worsen, although there have been signs of improvement in the state's other 65 counties, said Insurance Commissioner Walter Bell. The commissioners' association has yet to release data for 2006 and 2007.
It's not clear when rates might moderate. Bell said that "if we don't have a catastrophe this year," he expects costs to rise "at a slower pace" beginning next year.
Bell, a former Mobile insurance executive who has been the state's insurance commissioner since 2003, said he understands that consumers are unhappy about rising prices. But he noted that private companies are still shouldering all risks of hurricane damage in Alabama, unlike in other places where state government has taken on risk or insurance is unavailable.
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