Bill would bar some policy cancellations; Insurance group says other
When Jon Dell’Antonia of Oshkosh was notified by his property insurance company that his policy would not be renewed, he got ready for a fight.
He had been a customer with the insurer for more than 40 years. But in a recent three-year period, he received three insurance payouts totaling less than $20,000 all related to separate hail- and rainstorms that had damaged his house and a car. The company no longer considered him a good insurance risk.
“Sure, I know it cost them some money. I’m not arguing that. But that’s why you pay premiums,” Dell’Antonia said.
While badgering the insurance company to rescind its decision, Dell’Antonia, a former Oshkosh mayor, called state Sen. Carol Roessler. He told her there ought to be a law to stop insurance companies from canceling or refusing to renew policies over claims that resulted from acts of nature.
Today, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Roessler calls for exactly what Dell’Antonia suggested. Introduced this spring, the bill, SB 141, would prohibit an insurer from canceling or not renewing an auto or property policy solely because of claims stemming from unpreventable damage caused by tornadoes, hail, wind, rain, lightning or “forces of nature.”