Brooklyn Homeowner's Insurance Woes

Real Estate Round-Up:
September 12, 2007
by Sarah Ryley (sarah@brooklyneagle.net), published online 09-12-2007

The wave of home insurance cancellations in Brooklyn is hitting further from the coastline. New York Magazine reports on residents living in Park Slope, Ditmas Park (three miles from the coastline), and on a hilltop in Williamsburg who have all been dropped by their home insurance providers within the last year. Letters are alluding to Hurricane Katrina and the risk of a similar storm here.

Back in February, the Brooklyn Eagle reported that global warming and the imminent risk of flooding in the region, within the next five or 10 years, was the keynote topic of an insurance convention held at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. Industry insiders said the $55 billion payout after Katrina had opened their eyes to what a storm could cost when it hits an even denser urban area like Brooklyn, with far higher property values, and that many companies are preparing for the storm by dropping policies or raising rates. At that time, Allstate and six other insurance companies had already started shedding customers in the region.

Several analysts told the Eagle that the conundrum is going to prove especially difficult for buyers looking at all the new waterfront condos and co-ops going up in Brooklyn, many of whom are first-time home owners and less apt to think about home insurance costs until it’s too late.

Original posted here.

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