Senator: Lawmakers Not Taking Insurance Crisis Seriously Enough
      As homeowner’s insurance rates skyrocket on Cape Cod and the Islands, Beacon Hill lawmakers have failed to appoint a special commission they authorized to develop solutions to the widespread problem.
      Sen. Robert O’Leary told members of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Financial Services today that a commission that was required to report its legislative recommendations by April 1 missed that deadline and has never even been formed, a development that he said sends a terrible signal to struggling homeowners.
      “Frankly we’re in violation of our own legislative actions right now,” O’Leary told the committee. “The work that was supposed to have been done has not been done.” O’Leary is sponsoring legislation that would establish a catastrophic event fund modeled after the one in place in Florida. Insurance industry officials and consumer advocates called it a thoughtful idea, but said they are not sure it is the correct solution to the problem, and called on lawmakers to more actively engage themselves on the issue.
      Industry officials say rising reinsurance rates, as well as an exodus of auto insurance underwriters, have conspired to make homeowner’s insurance less affordable and less accessible, sending more and more homeowner’s into a so-called FAIR plan that was criticized as too expensive and providing too little coverage.
      Several lawmakers say the advancement of a bill making the automobile insurance system more competitive in Massachusetts would attract insurance carriers who might also offer more affordable homeowner’s policies. But others say the state might be paying the price for proprietary modeling data updates that account for risks posed by hurricanes not just in Massachusetts, but along the eastern seaboard.