North Carolina Beach Plan Committee Adds Members, Sets Meeting

The North Carolina Legislature recently mandated a committee to study the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association’s (Beach Plan) ability to respond financially to a significant hurricane landfall.

The first meeting of the Joint Select Study Committee on the Potential Impact of Major Hurricanes on the North Carolina Insurance Industry is scheduled for Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. in Room 544 of the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh.

The committee consists of at least one representative each from the Department of Insurance, the Beach Plan, the North Carolina Joint Underwriting Association, the North Carolina Rate Bureau and at least one member representing a national insurer, one representing a regional insurer and one member representing a domestic insurer.

Established by the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives, State Sen. Tony Rand and State Rep. Hugh Holliman co-chair the committee and announced additions to its original roster.

The president pro tempore added Dean Hardison, a homebuilder from the Wilmington area, and Norma Mills, former chief of staff/counsel to Sen. Basnight, now at the University of North Carolina School of Government.

The House speaker added Hon. Charles D. Evans, former state legislator and real estate/estate planning lawyer, from Manteo and a “public member knowledgeable in insurance” to be named later.

Required to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than Dec. 31, the committee will look at the potential impact of category 3, category 4 and category 5 hurricanes on the North Carolina insurance market. The committee will dissolve on Dec. 31 or upon the filing of its final report, whichever occurs first.

Specific issues to be addressed include the ability of the Beach Plan and the North Carolina Joint Underwriting Association to pay claims, reinsurance purchases by the Beach Plan and the NCJUA, other potential financing options, assessments on the private market and options for recovery of assessments by the private market.

The committee will also look at residual market experience and assessment structures in other states as a basis for comparison, land use issues, mitigation issues, and may consider any other factors deemed relevant by the appointed study committee representatives.

Topics North Carolina