Louisiana Insurance Commissioner holds town hall amid ongoing homeowner’s insurance crisis

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A query and reply occasion on the College of New Orleans, centered on the state’s persevering with home-owner’s insurance coverage disaster, drew a big crowd as Louisiana Insurance coverage Commissioner Jim Donelon fielded questions.

The occasion, which was organized by members of the Orleans Delegation to the state legislature, addressed the quite a few insurance coverage firms which have turn into bancrupt, driving up the price of home-owner’s insurance coverage throughout the state.

Areas south of I-10 and I-12 have been hit particularly laborious.

Based on Donelon, a seventh firm has now gone belly-up within the Pelican State: Western Insurance coverage Company.

“The failure of the seven firms which have gone down resulted in 144,000 policyholders being left with out protection by their insurer,” Donelon stated.

Left with out protection, many have turned to Louisiana Residents, the state’s insurer of final resort. Donelon assured the group that Residents can not turn into bancrupt, however that the objective of the state is to get policyholders off Residents’ books and onto the books of recent firms.

Donelon steered an incentive program to draw new insurance coverage writers south of I-10 and I-12.

“Do issues like the motivation program to get firms to come back write in coastal areas and out of the Residents’ guide,” he stated, including that constructing codes needs to be upgraded.

He stated 800,000 claims have been filed since 2020, because of Louisiana dealing with 4 main hurricanes: Laura, Zeta, Delta and Ida.

“Residents at the moment went by way of Laura, Delta, Zeta, Ida with out reaching high of reinsurance bond,” Donelon stated. “[Citizens] won’t must subject bonds for these losses.”

The sticker shock alone from the sky-high insurance coverage premiums, and the problem find an insurer to put in writing a coverage south of I-10 and I-12, is inflicting individuals to flee the state, stated State Consultant Matthew Willard.

“When the particular person says there’s no means I can afford this, among the brokers must say, ‘Properly should you transfer to this a part of Mississippi, you may get your coverage right down to decrease than what it’s proper now,’” he stated. “No one needs to have individuals leaving Louisiana. However what do you do if you’re required to have this protection, and also you simply actually can’t afford it?”

A query many had centered on the state of affairs wherein a house owner paid their premium test to an insurance coverage firm, which cashed it and later turned bancrupt.

Donelon stated, in that circumstance, the home-owner can nonetheless be reimbursed. Within the case of Southern Constancy, which is headquartered in Florida, he stated his workplace remains to be engaged on getting the information for premium refunds from the Florida Workplace of Insurance coverage Regulation.

He stated the information ought to arrive on the finish of subsequent week.

Donelon steered reaching out to your mortgage firm and have them reimburse you out of your present escrow, and paying them again if you obtain your test, both from the reinsurance payout from the bancrupt firm or out of your new insurer.

“We knew issues have been going to be altering, however to not this extent,” stated Lavon Jackson, a New Orleans East resident who was dropped by State Farm after a long time, and noticed her new quote triple. “Why make us pay such a cash? We wasn’t hit that onerous like that.”

In order for you extra info, you possibly can go to the Louisiana Division of Insurance coverage web site. You can even name 800-259-5300.

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