A special legislative session has been called to address insurance coverage issues in Louisiana. Lauren Hadden with the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) said during the regular session last year lawmakers approved creating an incentive program for property insurers, but it wasn’t funded.
“Commissioner Donelon is asking the state to put $45 million into this incentive program, similar to what was done after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which was successful,” said Hadden.
Hadden said they support Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon’s goal to divert adding more policies to Citizens, the state-run insurer of last resort, which is forced to price their coverage higher than the private market.
“We see the need right now to have private insurers incentivized to come in and try to help stabilize the private market,” said Hadden.
The program would essentially provide public grants to insurers who are willing to write policies in higher-risk areas to help cover those costs. Hadden said while there might be alternatives to improving the insurance market in Louisiana…
“We do believe that something needs to be done and even if this is just a temporary band-aid but is used for now to try to encourage insurers to come back to Louisiana or come into Louisiana, we certainly support those initiatives,” said Hadden.
Hadden said Donelon has told them that incentives would only be available for existing carriers and potential carriers that have the means to come and stay in Louisiana.
The special session is slated to begin on January 30th and wrap on February 5th.
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