WEST VIRGINIA -- Paul Makar's dream of starting a motorcycle shop brought him from Florida back home to Weirton.

But none of the insurance companies he and his business partner called would sell them liability insurance in West Virginia, so months after renting a building, their sign still says "Opening Soon."

"Every time I'd get a call from an insurance company saying we can't do anything for you, I'd feel like giving up," says Makar. "Either that or moving to Ohio or Pennsylvania or Florida."

Helping small business owners like Paul is precisely why Governor Joe Manchin is calling for reforms to a system he says is unfair and out of balance.

"It's not just one group of people that are responsible or to blame," says Manchin. "People want to blame lawyers, they want to blame insurance companies. I think we all want to come to the table and figure out how do we make it a better environment and better climate in West Virginia."

It's not just a problem for business. State Farm has stopped insuring new homeowners, saying some homeowners are exploiting consumer protection laws.

"The one percent of customers who are benefiting from this 99 percent are being punished with higher rates, unavailabilty of insurance and just general hassle," says State Farm agent Jack Fowler of Weirton.

The insurance industry says the problem is too many people treat their homeowner's policy like a maintenance policy by filing many claims for smaller home repairs such as a small leak in the roof or filing claims for slightly damaged carpet or for new windows or doors instead of filing only when their homes suffer catastrophic damage.

Those are customers insurance agents might like to get rid of, and the state legislature just might let them do that.

West Virginia is one of just ten states that won't let insurance companies just drop abusive policy holders if they've held their policy for four years or more.

Thus forcing insurance companies to drop newer customers, even if they're not the ones abusing policies.

The legislature's looking at a law that would allow insurance companies to drop one percent of policyholders in each county, eliminating the abusers and bringing down rates for everyone else.

But lawmakers say if they change the laws, the insurance companies had better hold up their end of the bargain.

"At the end of the day, if we're going to pass different pieces of reform, we have to make sure the insurance companies respond in a positive way, and what i mean by that is in favor of the people," says Delegate Randy Swartzmiller of Hancock County.

State Farm resumed writing car insurance in West Virginia after the legislature passed similar reforms for cars last year.

Too early to tell if they'll ever get back in the home insurance game.

Meantime, Paul Makar did find liability insurance for his bike shop, but it's thanks to an insurance company in Ohio, and not in West Virginia.

The policy's expensive and only allows him to do low-risk maintenance work and not to build bikes from the ground up as he originally wanted.

But for a small businessman just trying to open his doors, it is a start.

"I'm real positive now and I'm more determined to make it happen."

The homeowners' policy reform the legislature is considering would only allow insurance companies to drop abusive policy holders according to guidelines set forth by the state insurance commission.

-Eric Minor, NEWS 9