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Senators raise alarms about manufactured-home owners in shore counties who cannot find property coverage
Summary
Committee members and the commissioner discussed reports that owners of mobile and manufactured homes, particularly in Cape May County and along the Jersey Shore, face difficulty obtaining homeowners or property insurance; the department pointed to a small, specialty market and suggested surplus lines or the New Jersey Fair Plan as options.
Several senators told the committee on May 1 that constituents who own manufactured or mobile homes in Cape May County and other shore communities are having policies nonrenewed and cannot find new coverage.
A senator described calls from multiple constituents who were told carriers “are simply no longer issuing policies in your area,” and said the New Jersey Realtors Association has confirmed the problem is growing. Commissioner Justin Zimmerman said manufactured-home coverage is a specialty market with relatively few carriers and about 23,000 policies in force statewide. He recommended that consumers explore surplus lines markets and the New Jersey Fair Plan as residual-market options and said the department is willing to work with affected homeowners to connect them to potential coverage pathways.
Zimmerman also noted that flood risk and coastal exposures are part of the insurance calculus and pointed to the state’s 22 private flood carriers as part of the broader coastal-insurance landscape. He offered to follow up directly on cases the senators provided to the department.
The exchange highlighted constituent frustration and a growing market hardening for certain coastal and manufactured-home risks, and senators asked the department to investigate carrier decisions and to brief the committee with specific findings and options for affected residents.
