March 12, 2010, 12:13PM
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne today introduced a plan to address Alabama’s coastal insurance crisis, saying the issue threatens one of the state’s most powerful economic engines. 
(Press-Register/Kate Mercer)Bradley Byrne
Byrne, a Mobile native and resident of Montrose in Baldwin County, said he would form a coalition of governors from coastal states to focus attention on the issue and introduce a package of legislation designed to encourage insurers to write affordable policies in coastal areas.
The coalition’s first task, he said, will be lobbying Congress for changes that would stabilize the reinsurance market and create more favorable conditions for private insurance companies.
“There is no one silver bullet,” Byrne said in an interview with the Press-Register. “This is a complex problem that will require reforms at both the state and federal levels. As governor, I won’t waste any time getting started on it.”
Byrne said private insurers have essentially pulled out of Mobile and Baldwin counties and are continuing to retreat northward. Byrne said his own wind coverage was canceled last year despite the fact that he never filed a wind damage claim or missed a premium payment.
“It’s more than just a coastal issue,” he said. “While I understand the perceptions of lawmakers who don’t live near the coast or represent constituencies that share the concerns of coastal Alabamians, I strongly disagree with any who contend that this insurance coverage crisis does not affect them.”
Byrne’s proposal includes legislation that would strengthen building codes for Mobile and Baldwin counties and establish tax-exempt “catastrophe savings accounts” that would help homeowners pay for storm damages.
Byrne, one of nine candidates seeking the Republican party’s nomination for governor, also said he would work to open Alabama’s insurance market to competition and eliminate the blanket practice of “red-lining” policies across wide areas.
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