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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York Press Office: (212) 346-5500; media@iii.org

NEW YORK, September 17, 2014 —T��� (I.I.I.) has just released its white paper on , updated for 2014.

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Co-authored by Dr. Robert Hartwig, an economist and the I.I.I.’s president, and Claire Wilkinson, who writes the I.I.I.’s award-winning blog, the paper analyzes the changes taking place within the U.S. residual property insurance market.

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Residual property insurance plans are state-administered, and issue policies to high-risk policyholders who have difficulty obtaining either residential or commercial coverage from private-sector property insurers.

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The I.I.I.’s report notes these plans have a cumulative total exposure to loss that stands at more than $600 billion nationwide. Despite attempts to reduce the size of these plans, state-run property insurers of last resort nationally had 3.2 million residential and commercial policies in-force as of 2013. The I.I.I.’s white paper focuses on the plans in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina and Texas.

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“As long as the [residual property insurance] plans continue to grow and their coverage remains underpriced, state finances will remain under threat, while policyholders and ultimately taxpayers, many of whom live nowhere near the coast, will continue to face the prospect of increased assessments in the years ahead,” stated Dr. Hartwig and Ms. Wilkinson.

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In the past, when state-run residual property insurance market plans ran out of money before meeting their claims-paying commitments, lawmakers allocated taxpayer monies to bolster their finances, the I.I.I.’s paper notes, citing what occurred in Florida in 2006. In addition, state-run residual market plans often have the power to levy assessments against the state’s participating private-sector insurers to plug the plan’s budget deficits. Insurers pass these costs along to their policyholders statewide by imposing property insurance rate surcharges, according to the I.I.I.’s analysis.

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• Terms+Conditions post:
• Issues Update:
• Facts and Statistics: ;

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THE I.I.I. IS A NONPROFIT, COMMUNICATIONS ORGANIZATION SUPPORTED BY THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY.

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