Safeco Insurance plans to offer wind coverage again, Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said Monday morning.

The company will offer 500 to 1,000 homeowner policies wind coverage, he said, beginning in mid-March.

"They're going to be selective about who they write, but I'm assuming as long as there's not a credit risk involved, they're not going to have any real restrictions," Chaney said. Some companies have restricted wind coverage to the northern three Coast counties, stopped offering it altogether to new customers and/or non-renewed policyholders who live near shore.

Chaney believes Safeco also will offer discounts in the near future to policyholders who strengthen their homes to minimize hurricane damage.

One of the only other major companies writing new homeowner policies with wind coverage on the Coast, Chaney said, is Republic Insurance Group. Some smaller companies, he said, are writing new policies with wind.

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