New Jersey coastal property owners are having a hard time finding insurance placements in the primary market, but insurance remains available in the surplus lines, according to an agent group survey.
A poll of 49 agents conducted by the Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey finds that insurance is still available to coastal risks, but compared to last year there is more difficulty finding coverage.
Of the 49 surveyed, 33 said availability was worse or much worse than last year. Almost all agents say that insurers have placed some type of restriction on the risks, and most say that more than half of their coastal risks are now written in the surplus lines market. A total of 16 agents said they are writing all of their risks in surplus lines.
Carriers are imposing restrictions in their underwriting for both homeowners and commercial accounts that include distance from water, increased deductibles, limitations on construction and caps on policy limits.
Very few agents said they are placing their risks in the state's Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan.
Of the four coastal counties in New Jersey, Ocean County is considered the most difficult area for placing homeowners risk, but most of the agents surveyed write their coastal business in Ocean.
The complete survey is available at www.pia.org/IRC/qs/qs_other/QS29213.pdf.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
