In five hurricane-prone states just eight large property-casualty insurers are exposed to 66.8 percent of the home insurance risk, says Weiss Ratings. In 2001, eight carriers commanded 83.1 percent in Texas, 66.7 percent in South Carolina, 64.9 percent in Louisiana, 60 percent in North Carolina and 51.3 percent in Florida. Those eight companies are: State Farm, Allstate, Zurich, Nationwide, USAA Group, Citigroup, Chubb & Son, and Hartford. Two companies, State Farm and Allstate controlled 39.6 percent of the total market in the five states. In Louisiana, the two insurers dominated the market writing 52.3 percent of the homeowners premiums. "lt is particularly alarming that so few insurers control so much of the market in hurricane-prone states," said Melissa Gannon, Weiss vice president. "This directly contradicts the purpose of insurance, which is to spread risk. Insurers and consumers are at great risk if a catastrophic event causes serious financial damage, leaving policyholders in danger of losing their coverage.'" Over-exposure in a hurricane-prone state portends danger for the financial health of an insurer." As of Dec. 31, USAA had the most exposure, with 35.1 percent of its total homeowners business in the five mast hurricane-prone states. Among the remaining seven insurers, the exposure ranged from a low of 17.2 percent for Chubb to 29.1 percent for Nationwide. States ranked by the number of direct hurricane hits between 1900 and 2000, according to the National Hurricane Center (www.nhc.noaa.gov), are: Florida {60), Texas (37), North Carolina (27}, Louisiana {26} and South Carolina {14}. For more information visit www.WeissRatings.com .