Allstate rates to increase

[Guest guest]

They mention about the Katrina Cough being a myth by their

researchers. I'd love to know who those researchers are.

Allstate rates to increase

The Hullabaloo Online - New Orleans,LA,USA

April 21, 2006

http://www.thehullabaloo.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/04/21/444948317

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Allstate rates to increase

Allstate Insurance Co. policy holders in the New Orleans area may

see their homeowners insurance rates increase by as much as 52

percent starting in June under a change approved Tuesday by a 3-to-1

vote of the Louisiana Insurance Rating Commission. Allstate,

Louisiana's second-largest homeowners insurance company, said it

needed the increase because hurricane models call for another busy

storm season and the cost of reinsurance, the extra insurance

carried by insurance companies to help them pay on catastrophe

claims, is rising. Allstate did not have any reinsurance for

Louisiana when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit last year. After

2005's hurricane season, the company bought a one-year nationwide

reinsurance policy for all catastrophes. In all cases, the actual

amount of the rate change will depend on the home's location, its

type of construction, its replacement value and the size of the

policy's deductible.

`Katrina Cough' myth disproven

Despite claims that there have been more coughs, sore throats and

runny noses since Hurricane Katrina, a new state health department

study has found that the effects of the storm do not include an

increase in respiratory problems. A check of more than 56,000 local

emergency room visits from October through March showed that rates

of respiratory sicknesses were similar to those found nationwide.

Researchers did find a slightly elevated risk of respiratory

problems among people living in damaged, mold-ridden homes, but

there was no conclusive finding among people such as construction

contractors and mold specialists who worked in such environments,

and no long-term consequences were seen.

City Council sets deadline to begin work on homes

City Council voted Thursday to set Aug. 29, the anniversary of

Hurricane Katrina, as the deadline for people to clean, gut and

board up their homes or risk having the city seize and demolish

them. The ordinance was introduced by Councilman Jay Batt, who said

that ravaged, mold-infested houses can become " environmental

biohazards " that will slow the recovery of whole neighborhoods by

discouraging nearby owners from moving back or repairing their own

homes. The ordinance was approved 7-0.