Bill Nolan Sr. ofNolan Insurance has seen some bad weather in his 41 years of business, but predicted last winter may very well go on record as the worst winter for insurance companies.
For Nolan, that's a mouthful.
His Plymouth-based insurance business was only 4 years old when the Blizzard of '78 hit the region.
Nolan said insurance companies took a huge hit in 1978 and needed to raise rates, but rebounded overtime, and lowered them again to stay competitive.
This past winter brought even more snow to the region, requiring Nolan to call in bucket loaders for snow removal for the first time ever to keep the doors open.
"We were hammered with ice, wind, ice dams. It was relentless," Nolan said of last winter. "We represent multiple companies, and there wasn't a company that we didn't have a lot of claims with Some of those claims are still coming in." "I don't know of any company that's going to have a profitable year. Losses are going to be in the 90 to 110 percent range, and that's before expenses, so most are looking for increases," he said.
Nolan said none of his customers filed catastrophic claims after last winter, but volume was pretty steep and was likely the norm in every insurance agency in town.
"There's not an agency that went unscathed. Most companies are looking to rate increases, which is basically a product of the numbers. When times are good, they reduce rates to become competitive," Nolan said. "I've been in business a long time. You see things come and go, rates go up and down.
It's all a product of the environment." Janet Kliment, director of personal insurance at Rogers & Gray Insurance, said, strangely enough, the rate increases won't be impacting waterfront and coastal areas as much as inland one s.
"A majority of the rate increases put through are mainly being done in western Massachusetts; they're not necessarily affecting the Cape and Plymouth," Kliment said. "The Cape may not see anything - the rate could be flat or increase by 1 percent, while Springfield might have a 7 percent increase." Why? Kliment explained that insurance companies buy reinsurance on coastal properties to safeguard against the increased likelihood of storm damage.
While all with home insurance pay toward the cost of reinsurance, those living on or near the coast pay significantly more than those with inland properties. The result this past winter was a strange flip-flop as a result.
Because coastal property owners were already paying steep premiums to cover their insurance and the insurance company's reinsurance, the increase in claims didn't have as serious an impact as they did in western Massachusetts. Ice dams, flooding and various other impacts on inland areas will cause these rates to increase, in some cases significantly, Kliment said.
But, that always depends on the carrier. Kliment warned that each insurance company looks at each town and territory individually.
"There are different pricing points based on a property's distance to the coast, and each company has its own specific guidelines," she said. "Those risk guidelines can be totally different." Rogers & Gray has offices in Kingston, Dennis, Norwell, Sandwich, Falmouth, Orleans and Wareham.
Staff writers Emily Clark and Rich Harbert contributed to this story.
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