Insurance Carriers to Drop Landlords

Nearly 10,500 landlords in North Carolina have been informed that their Allstate property insurance policies will not be renewed,  unless these customers meet their insurers’ demands.

The carrier has given notice to about 45,000 North Carolina residents, including rental property owners, that their property insurance will not be renewed unless these customers also purchase auto insurance through the carrier.  Landlords have to bundle their policies by December 15.

One property owner was particularly put off by the demand.  He told the Winston-Salem Journal that Allstate cancelled his auto insurance policy six years ago because he made claims against it.

Allstate turned over a database of 9,300 of the dropped landlords to another carrier, Universal North American, so that Universal could solicit these customers.

The requirement that insurance be bundled is legal, according to the North Carolina Department of Insurance.  Another local carrier, Farm Bureau is also requiring that property owners take out auto insurance policies in order to obtain property insurance coverage.  In addition, Farm Bureau may not renew policies if a claim has been made in the past five years, according to the report.

The reasons for the changes are economic, given the storm damage and flooding that has plagued the area recently.

Three other carriers, State Farm, Nationwide and USAA, say they don’t link homeowners and auto policies and have no plans to do so, according to the report.

Given government regulation of insurance premiums, rates are not expected to rise.

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