New York - Allstate Insurance Cancels Policies as Major Hurricane Predicted

New York - A weather forecasting group predicts a busier than normal hurricane season, May 15 through November 30, with a major storm hitting the Northeast. “There are indications that the Northeast will experience a hurricane larger and more powerful than anything that region has seen in a long time,” a senior meteorologist and director of forecast operations of AccuWeather.com said.
In the meantime, the Allstate Insurance Company has decided to cancel, or not renew, insurance policies for 28,000 --roughly 3.11 percent--of their 900,000 New York customers. MET, has declined taking new business in the eight so-called hurricane counties, which encompass the five boroughs, plus Nassau, Westchester and Suffolk.

“It’s not right-and it’s not fair-and it’s time New York gets tough on regulating these out of control insurers,” argues N.Y. State Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester), in a press release.

Brooklyn Borough Pres. Marty Markowitz has been attempting to get a response from Allstate concerning dropping of low-income and ethnic homeowners, but they haven't responded, according to his spokesman, Brian Vines. “Brooklyn consumers are running scared,” Mr. Vines admitted, adding, “This is out of control.”

An Allstate spokeswoman said that it wasn’t an easy decision. “But we believe this is the right decision,” she said.