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r' IEht~Btl'tdli Herald.oom Posted on Sat, Dec. 31, 2005 For more-equitable insurance costs Does the wind from hurricanes stop at Dixie Highway? Is there a large magical barrier that prevents wind from damaging properties west of the road? What about storms like Hurricane Wilma that arrive from the west? State law acts as if such a barrier exists. For purposes of windstorm insurance there is a line that runs down Interstate 95 from North Florida and switches to U.S. 1 in South Florida. If you live east of U.S. 1 you almost certainly have windstorm coverage from Citizens Property Insurance Company, the high-risk, state-developed company that, by law, charges higher premiums than anyone else. If you live west of the line, you can get windstorm insurance from commercial carriers at competitive rates. Those who live east of Dixie Highway, are, in effect, subsidizing the rest of the state. With the more than 50-percent increase in rates proposed by Citizens and the additional potential assessments this year for Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, this inequity will increase. Many of our residents, especially those retirees on a fixed income, will not be able to afford to stay in their houses. Hurricanes, the damage they cause, the costs of repair and the impact on insurance costs are facts of life in Florida. The state formed this artificial line many years ago in a successful effort to keep insurance companies writing windstorm insurance. When Citizens was formed it incorporated this artificial line into its policies. Almost all of the private insurance companies that had previously written windstorm as part of their homeowners insurance eliminated coverage east of the line and transferred it to Citizens. The terms of windstorm insurance for those east of Dixie highway who must use Citizens are considerably worse than those who live west of the road and have this insurance written with their homeowner policy. With Citizens' policies, the deductible is almost always higher, the premium more, the policy more restrictive and, in many cases, the service worse. West of the highway, customers can change carriers; those who live east of South Dixie Highway have little choice. Clearly, the wind does not stop at Dixie Highway. There is no scientific evidence to show that there is a significant difference in wind strength or damage east or west of this road. I see more damaged "blue roofs" west of the highway than east of it these days. This artificial boundary was a compromise made to keep insurance companies writing policies in the state and to shift the burden of windstorm risk to a state company. It may have made sense in the past, but the experience of the last few years has clearly shown that windstorm damage is a statewide problem. We have seen devastating hurricane damage far from the coastlines in Central Florida. The Legislature should undertake a complete review and revision of windstorm insurance and spread the risk fairly. In doing this, lawmakers should eliminate this unreasonable and incorrect line. The Village of Palmetto Bay passed a resolution this month asking our state representatives to promote policies to effect this change. Everyone living east of this artificial line who is paying artificially higher insurance rates should contact their state representatives before the 2006 session starts and ask them to support legislation to correct this problem. The economic stability of our communities is at stake. ED FELLER, councilman, Palmetto Bay