Policy forum creates dialogue on Coast insurance issues

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - At the corner of Highway 90 and Debuys Rd. sits two vacant properties. Both have been abandoned since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but one lot is undergoing construction for a new business. The experts say that’s a snapshot of commercial and residential insurance these days.

Up the road at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Harrison County Campus, the Gulf Coast Business Council and other organizations put together a regional policy forum aimed at bringing coastal insurance into focus.

“It’s educational. It’s something that’s not going away so today was necessary to talk about it,” said Jamie Miller, president and CEO if the Gulf Coast Business Council.

They say the bad and the ugly of it concerns the insurance rate increases due to inflation and natural disasters happening outside of Mississippi.

“It’s still impacting business owners, homeowners and our workforce. It’s a competitiveness issue with our business and industry. If you’ve got insurance costs that are higher in another part of the region or in other parts of the country, it’s something we need to pay attention to,” Miller said.

He also told us there probably won’t be any firm solutions made at the forum, but the discussion should kick start some forward progress with insurance leaders.

The event was held at MGCCC’S IMAC facility and co-sponsored by the South Mississippi Planning and Development District.

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