Ala. Task Force Recommends 60-Day Homeowners Policy Notice

The Alabama Hurricane Issues Task Force headed by Insurance Commissioner Walter A. Bell has recommended a new regulation that would force insurers to give 60 days notice to policyholders whose insurance will be changed or canceled, and concluded that Alabama’s insurance regulations and laws need changed.

Members agreed that the state’s insurance laws and regulations need to be updated to better protect consumers without scaring away insurers.

A task force subcommittee, headed by David Parsons, deputy insurance commissioner, recommended captive insurance laws that would allow businesses to create their own insurance companies.

Another subcommittee recommended that the department provide better information about the process for filing and settling claims by hosting town-hall-style meetings, creating Web sites, offering public service announcements and mass-mailing brochures.

The task force, in cooperation with the Alabama Independent Insurance Agents, recently released a five-page list of wind damage insurers and local agents willing to offer coastal coverage.

Bell said the task force will most likely meet once more to discuss how different building codes might affect insurance rates.