North Carolina: First ‘Beach Plan’ Meeting Revolves Around Comparisons with Other Coastal States

The Joint Select Study Committee on the Potential Impact of Major Hurricanes on the North Carolina Insurance Committee held its first meeting in Raleigh on Sept. 30. Co-chair Rep. Hugh Holliman opened the meeting by remarking that he would “like to say I have an open mind, but I believe we have a severe problem” that needs to be addressed.

North Carolina Department of Insurance Legislative Counsel Rose Williams was first to speak, giving a brief history of the Beach Plan and offering an array of slides from various sources that displayed statistics from other coastal states’ plans.

“Comparing plans from state to state concerns me, since no two residual mechanisms for high-risk coastal coverage are exactly alike,” said Liz Reynolds, NAMIC Southeast state affairs manager.

In a recent presentation to the Farm Bureau Actuarial Conference, Reynolds pointed out that “rather than comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges, putting Southeastern states’ wind pools and beach plans together makes for a mixed fruit salad.”

Williams was followed by Beach Plan/FAIR Plan Assistant General Manager Lee Dunn and North Carolina Rate Bureau General Manager Ray Evans. Both provided in-depth information regarding how their organizations function. “Several committee members sought to better understand the situation in North Carolina, but a few used the meeting as an opportunity to rail against insurance companies, as we’ve seen in Louisiana and Mississippi recently,” said Reynolds.

Reynolds also observed that “interestingly enough, information presented by Mr. Dunn clearly showed North Carolina has been making available better coastal coverage for cheaper rates than most other coastal states. None of the committee members commented on that connection, but an Associated Press story that appeared in the Fayetteville Observer the next day got it.”

The inaugural meeting closed with Co-chair Sen. Tony Rand’s request that members let him know what additional information they would find helpful for their review. He specifically mentioned that he would like to consider industry proposals for making writing on the coast more attractive and for encouraging stronger building codes and mitigation efforts.

The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 16.

Direct questions to NAMIC State Affairs Manager Liz Reynolds.

Posted: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 12:52:07 PM.

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