Fire Insurance and the Inner City.

First in a series of projected reports on the private market in fire protection. This report describes the problems dealing with the state of fire insurance in the inner core of major metropolitan areas. Fire insurance plays a significant role in the economic health of inner-city neighborhoods because most financial institutions require a property to be covered by insurance before they will lend its owner any money. In recent years, inner-city property owners have had great difficulty in obtaining insurance coverage. After the civil disorders of the mid-1960s exacerbated the problem, federal legislation was introduced; while it has expanded the availability of insurance, coverage is still costly or unobtainable for many inner-city property owners. The sources of the problem lie in the decay of the inner city and the refusal of the insurance industry to adapt its methods to the changing urban environment. 41 pp.