The United States is a coastal country. Many businesses are located in areas considered "high risk" coastal areas by private insurers. These areas are "high risk" because they area is subject to flooding, rain, or wind damage. Businesses in these areas struggle to find affordable insurance.Seven coastal states (AL, FL, LA, MS, NC, SC, TX) offer some form of state-sponsored windstorm insurance pool. These secondary pools act as insurance of last resort for businesses and home owners who cannot secure insurance in the private market. Particularly in Beaufort County, activists are cautiously optimistic that state wind-insurance premiums -- which they argue are too high and damaging to the area's economy -- might soon be trimmed.
It's been nearly a year since Daryl Ferguson and a group of other Low country business people began gathering evidence that the area's home-insurance rates are disproportionately high. They also sought to figure out why, and what the state could do to lower rates. In Beaufort County, the average premium for a home insured for $150,000 is about $1,840 a year, according to a study by The (Charleston) Post & Courier. Statewide, premiums have risen 71 percent during the last decade and are nearly three times higher than in 1996.
A retired Beaufort resident who formerly led a public utility company - Daryl Ferguson said " "It's a serious, serious problem. It's a crisis,"
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