THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606220243
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 40 lines
Virginia's insurance regulator sent letters to more than 500 insurance companies Friday, urging them to exercise restraint when dealing with rate increases, coverage restrictions and policy terminations for churches in the state.
Acting insurance commissioner Alfred W. Gross said he also launched a study to determine whether any churches in Virginia had difficulty finding or keeping their insurance coverage.
``We're not aware of a capacity problem or an access problem, but we are going to find out,'' he said.
Gross said the state's Bureau of Insurance was responding to the cancellation of insurance at a Richmond church damaged earlier this year by arson.
Travelers/Aetna Property Casualty Corp. paid the claim on the damaged church, The Glorious Church of God in Christ, but then canceled its policy. On Friday, Travelers agreed to restore the coverage, Gross said.
``They told me that this was handled poorly and that they want to right the wrong as best they can,'' he said.
Church members had contacted Virginia Attorney General James S. Gilmore III about insurance difficulties, and Gilmore asked the insurance bureau to investigate.
In addition to sending letters to property-and-casualty insurers, Gross said he has contacted regulators in other states to see if churches elsewhere had any difficulty with their insurance coverage.
Because Virginia's insurance bureau has determined that fire insurance has been widely available, insurers have considerable latitude when writing fire insurance in the state.
``Statutorily, we cannot prevent a company from canceling or not renewing a policy'' in a commercial line of insurance, Gross said.
But if the insurance bureau findsproblems, it may recommend legislative changes to the General Assembly, he said.
KEYWORDS: CHURCH FIRES ARSON INSURANCE by CNB