Insurance Administration

Consumers might want to think twice before filing a claim on their home insurance policies, warns the Maryland Insurance Administration, because it could lead to higher premiums or even lost coverage. A local lawmaker and some consumers are unhappy about that. They say they buy insurance to cover their property when something goes wrong and want insurance carriers to be forced to notify customers if they're in danger of losing their coverage. Maryland law - like many around the country - generally prevents an insurance company from canceling or not renewing a policy if fewer than three weather-related claims are filed in a three-year period.

In Baltimore County Firefighters OK 1-year pact giving them $2,300 raises TIMONIUM - The Baltimore County firefighters union voted overwhelmingly last night to accept a contract that will give members $2,300 raises and two additional paid holidays. The one-year-deal - expected to cost the county $1.6 million - also provides a "firefighters bill of rights" for disciplinary procedures, said Michael K. Day Sr., president of the Baltimore County Professional Fire Fighters Association, which represents the county's 1,000 firefighters and paramedics.

After complaining for two months that the Maryland Insurance Administration should do more to help Tropical Storm Isabel victims, Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. is now pushing for a change in state law that he says would force the agency to more aggressively police flood insurance carriers. At Smith's request, Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr., a Dundalk Democrat, has introduced a bill that would require the state insurance commissioner to hold flood insurance carriers to the same standards of conduct that he does for other types of coverage.

Working to make flood insurance aid Marylanders The debate in the news media about whether the Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) now has, or ever had, jurisdiction over the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has blurred the facts. And I would like to set the record straight about what the MIA has been doing since Sept. 15 ("Senate panel accepts Redmer nomination," Feb. 10). As was determined following Hurricane Floyd in 1999, the state cannot compel any action by the National Flood Insurance Program.

Despite protests by victims of Tropical Storm Isabel, a Maryland Senate committee voted unanimously last night to accept the nomination of Alfred W. Redmer Jr. as state insurance commissioner. The senators on the Executive Nominations Committee questioned Redmer for more than an hour about his stance that federal law prevents him from taking aggressive action on consumers' behalf in flood insurance complaints. Although many of the senators accepted Redmer's explanation of his interpretation of the law, some took him to task for not being a more visible and forceful advocate for flood victims.

Two Maryland insurance agents, who allegedly bilked African-American funeral homes out of more than $820,000, have been hit with a record fine and ordered to pay the money back, the state's insurance commissioner said yesterday. The Maryland Insurance Administration said the agents - William Ray Miller II of Severna Park and Donna Mannino of Eldersburg - operated Severna Park businesses that defrauded at least five clients in a variety of ways that can be traced back half a decade. Activities by the business partners include overcharging, erroneously requiring interest payments on premiums and collecting fees for nonexistent property and casualty insurance policies, according to the state administration.

Sharon Himes purchased a home in the Brooklyn section of Baltimore in October last year. A local title company handled the closing. The title company wrote to Ms. Himes a few weeks later, advising that there was a shortage in transfer taxes and that she needed to pay an additional $220.50 "to complete the transactions" and record the property deed. After two more requests, Ms. Himes sent $220.50 to the title company in February. Ms. Himes checked with city officials in April and was told the property was not titled in her name.

Mary Catherine Loux, a former insurance agent who was later an investigator for the Maryland Insurance Administration, died of cancer Monday at the Maples of Towson nursing home. She was 80 and formerly lived in Cockeysville. Mary Catherine Walsh was born in Baltimore and raised in Govans. She was a 1941 graduate of the Institute of Notre Dame. During the 1970s, Mrs. Loux began working as an insurance agent for Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and earned a Certified Life Underwriter certificate from the American College of Insurance in 1974.

Belk to celebrate renovations with activities Wednesday Belk Department Store in TownMall of Westminster will hold a grand reopening this week to celebrate a storewide renovation and expanded merchandise offerings. The $1 million renovation of the 75,000-square-foot store features the latest in retail design, floor layout, lighting and product presentation. New lighting and the removal of sight barriers should make it easier to find and see the various departments and merchandise. Expanded departments include women's clothing, accessories, lingerie and sleepwear, and men's sportswear.

Wearing matching "I Survived Hurricane Isabel" T-shirts, Michael and Sharon Grosscup were among the first in line as the Disaster Recovery Center in eastern Baltimore County opened its doors yesterday afternoon. The storm had destroyed their one-story home at Watersedge in Dundalk, two cars and nearly all of their possessions, and the Grosscups wanted to find out what kind of help they might obtain from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and from state and county agencies. The storm hit the county's east side harder than any other part of the state.