Florida-based property and casualty insurer SafePoint has been approved to takeover approximately 30,000 homeowners policies in Louisiana from two insurance firms that became insolvent following losses from Hurricane Ida earlier this year.
Access Home Insurance Co. and State National Fire Insurance Co. were placed into receivership in November, throwing the coverage of tens of thousands of Louisiana households into question.
But the assumption of policies by SafePoint, retroactive to December 1st, means homeowners will not need to search for new insurance coverage or end up in Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-sponsored insurer of last resort.
“Policyholders can start the new year knowing that their homes are protected by a viable insurance company,” said Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon.
“I’m glad that we were able to find a proper landing spot for everyone in the private market and end this source of worry for policyholders.”
SafePoint acquired the policies for the price of the unearned premium and will substantially grow its footprint in the homeowners market following the transaction.
The company has been licensed in Louisiana since 2015 and has an A rating from Demotech, but currently has just $959,035 in direct written homeowners premium and 0.05% of the residential homeowners insurance market.
By contrast, Access Home and State National Fire had a combined $20.6 million in direct written premium and 1% of the homeowners insurance market in Louisiana.
Following the deal, policies that come up for renewal each month starting in March 2022 will be re-written using SafePoint’s rates and policy forms.
Policies that renew before then will continue to show Access Home or State National Fire as their insurance provider because of proper notice requirements and will be re-written as SafePoint policies upon renewal.
Additionally, customers who had been with Access Home or State National Fire for more than three years will retain their status under Louisiana’s unique three-year consumer protection statute, even if the customer’s home was damaged in Hurricane Ida and has not yet been repaired.
However, SafePoint will have the option not to renew policyholders who had been with Access Home or State National Fire for less than three years.
