Insurance rates go through damaged roofs

His customers weathered a winter of near-constant blizzards and ice dams, and now Lynn insurance agency owner Ned Breed is sorting through claims and trying to assess how steeply his clients? policy rates will climb.Insurance companies Breed negotiates with on behalf of his customers are initially unveiling rate increases exceeding 8 percent. The owner of Farquhar & Black Insurance on Exchange Street said homeowners? rates in recent years have remained the same from year to year or climbed by 2 percent.?All the companies have indicated that with the way the winter was, they have to look at rates,” he said.Home insurance rates are set by companies, not agents such as Breed or A. James Lynch Insurance on Broadway. And the state Division of Insurance does not set individual company rates, noted state Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation spokesman Peter Fullerton.Fullerton warned against linking rate increases announced by companies with this past winter?s home damage. He said “a wide variety of calculations and information” informs rate-setting decisions.?Only four out of 10 Massachusetts home insurance companies submitted recent rate filing changes, and only one of those companies cited February/March winter storms in their insurance rate filing,” Fullerton said.A. James Lynch President Maura Lynch said her agents are still receiving homeowner claims reflecting winter damage. Breed said Farquhar and Black saw a record-breaking number of ice dam and water damage claims from customers.?There were more this year than we ever had. It was just incredible,” he said.Swampscott resident Kenneth Shutzer?s home sustained water damage to the ceiling and said his insurer moved quickly to assess the damage and assist him. He pays about $2,000 a year for home insurance and knows insurers will weigh winter claims as they consider rate increases.?You can?t anticipate it, but they may want to pass on expenses to customers,” he said.Lynch said insurance carriers she negotiates with have yet to roll out rate increases, but said the “risk-based” nature of the insurance business means carriers consider a lot of variables when setting rates.?Perhaps spreading the risk to everyone doesn?t seem fair, but this past winter was certainly one for the record books,” she said.