Cape homeowners protest insurance hikes
WEST BARNSTABLE -- About 1,000 angry Cape Cod property owners met with government officials at Cape Cod Community College yesterday and demanded help against rising home insurance rates.
"We need serious government intervention," said Pat Dalziel , of Falmouth, who said her home annual insurance premium has increased 225 percent, to $2,200 in the past two years.
"We don't understand how this has been able to happen," said Dalziel, who expects her premiums to increase again next year.
Many at the gathering are members of Citizens for Homeowners Insurance Reform, formed to advocate for insurance relief. They say many insurers have ceased to offer property insurance on the Cape. The companies that remain insist that they must raise rates because of hurricane fears.
Insurance industry officials have said that rates are rising because of the potential for enormous damage from a major hurricane.
"It is not a Cape Cod problem. It's a coastal problem, from Massachusetts to Texas," Frank Mancini , president of the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents, said yesterday.
"International firms for reinsurance are driving rates through the roof," he added. 