Farmers New Century Insurance Co. of Aurora, Ill., paid a $10,000 fine to the Maryland Insurance Administration for failing to properly modify its water damage coverage to meet a new law that took effect Oct. 1, 2008.

Rather than requiring property-casualty insurers to offer coverage for damage caused by a water main break and other water discharge, the Maryland Insurance Administration will instead study how to best educate consumers.

A handful of insurance companies paid $10,000 fines to the Maryland Insurance Administration for either failing to include in their homeowners policies sewer and drain backup coverage or not including language of the change in policies, records show.

With Tennessee residents left reeling after a weekend of severe storms, tornadoes and now flooding, residents are getting assistance from the federal government, but are considering action against their local insurance agents.

The American Insurance Association is giving Maryland lawmakers a mixed assessment of the recently completed 2010 General Assembly session.

Last year, residents of Dundalk, Md., were deluged by an eruption in a 6-foot water main, sending hundreds of residents scrambling to their insurance companies for help. On Tuesday (Feb. 2), members of the Maryland House Economic Matters committee were soaked with opposition from insurance companies operating in the state to a bill mandating that they offer protection for such instances in the future.