According to a recent Issues Brief released by the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), Louisiana’s insurers paid out more than $23 billion after both the 2020 and 2021 hurricane seasons, driving a number of them into insolvency.
Triple-I stated that twelve insurers that write homeowners coverage in Louisiana were declared insolvent between July 2021 and February 2023, in large part due to the severity of the insured loss pay-outs in the wake of 2020’s Hurricane Laura and 2021’s Hurricane Ida.
The Laura losses across all insurance lines stood at $9.1 billion in Louisiana a year after it made landfall, while Ida prompted Louisiana’s insurers either to pay, or to set aside, another $13.9 billion in the aftermath of that storm.
Moreover, the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) also stated that both hurricanes Delta and Zeta, which made landfall in Louisiana in October 2020, cumulatively generated another $1.5 billion in insured auto, home, and business insurance claim.
Further, to increase the availability and to broaden the affordability of homeowners insurance coverage, Louisiana’s lawmakers revived this year the Insure Louisiana Incentive Program.
The state authorised $45 million matching grants for disbursement under the program.
The program incentivizes new and existing Louisiana insurers to write residential and commercial insurance policies in coastal areas. Additionally, one of the program’s other policy goals is to reduce the number of policyholders in Louisiana’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run property insurer of last resort.
