In a move that has outraged Island homeowners and their elected state representatives alike, the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, with only scant publicity, recently agreed to hike to the roof certain deductibles for people insured under the FAIR plan.

The steadily increasing cost of home insurance has been a bone of contention on the Vineyard for years, but a proposed increase to the rates of the FAIR plan - the state-backed insurer of last resort, and the only insurer for over 40 per cent of homeowners on Cape Cod and the Islands - has many Islanders now crying foul.