State Senate to probe high homeowner insurance hikes [View all]

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2015/07/state_senate_to_probe_high_homeowner_insurance_hikes

State Senate to probe high homeowner insurance hikes
Donna Goodison
Tuesday, July 28, 2015

A state Senate committee will investigate “troubling” increases in Massachusetts homeowner insurance rates after a severe winter that produced record snowfall and claims for damage.

Sen. Michael Barrett (D-Lexington), chairman of the Post Audit and Oversight Committee, wants greater transparency in the Division of Insurance’s rate approval process to ensure hikes are justified. A September hearing is planned.

The DOI so far has approved an 8.9 percent rate hike for Mapfre USA, 
9.1 percent for Safety Insurance and 7.8 percent for Bunker Hill Insurance — increases that’ll add $100 or more to homeowners’ bills, according to Barrett. Annual rate hikes usually average 2 percent to 3 percent, he said.

“The public could have been given a seat at the table before these 
homeownership insurance rates became final,” Barrett said. “Rates in past years were supposed to have anticipated the occasional bad winter. We will be asking whether these ... increases will be factored into a permanent base of charges going forward or ... rolled back following this year of extraordinary cost-recovery.”