After Louisiana citizens endured two consecutive prolific hurricane seasons in 2020 and 2021, state lawmakers made the adjustment of property insurance claims a top priority during this year’s Regular Legislative Session. On August 1, 2022, two new bills concerning claims adjusters went into effect: Senate Bill 198 and Senate Bill 214.

Weston Property & Casualty Insurance Co., a Miami-based insurer that was on the verge of financial collapse for weeks, has been taken over by Florida’s government.
The firm had 10,300 Louisiana policyholders who will now be directed to the state’s industry bailout program.

Insurers have paid or reserved to pay $13.1 billion on all types of Hurricane Ida-related claims in Louisiana through June 30, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon announced today.

There is a hole in the dam. Prior to June 14, every one of the 77 federal and 44 state court appellate decisions interpreting the meaning of ‘direct physical loss or damage’ in a standard-form commercial property insurance policy had ruled against the policyholder.

State Sen. Jeremy Stine, R-Lake Charles, District 27, promised to give storm victims a voice in Baton Rouge if he were elected in 2021. He went into the legislative session with the intention of creating real reform, shedding light on the industry and protecting consumers, he said, particularly the customer experience of filing a claim and getting paid what they’re owed.

CoreLogic has said that New York and Miami have the most homes at risk of storm surge damage, alongside the highest reconstruction cost value. According to the firm, its 2022 Hurricane Report shows that nearly 7.8m homes with more than $2.3tn in combined reconstruction cost value (RCV) are at risk of hurricane-related damages.

A Louisiana appeals court found that an all-risk property policy covered business-income interruption losses caused by COVID-19 shutdown orders and other operational restrictions.

As a fraud investigator prepared to revoke the license of a Lafayette insurance agent and fine her $10,000, there was one final step before taking action: getting approval from Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon.

The soul of this Florida Panhandle city lives in the Tanyard, a 200-year-old neighborhood so steeped in history that locals give it an extra capital ‘T’ -- as in ‘The Tanyard.’ It has also seen big-T troubles: Jim Crow-era segregation, heavy industrialization, multiple hurricane batterings, and a half-century of disinvestment and blight.

Hurricanes Laura and Ida has resulted in over $20 billion in insurance losses, insurance commissioner Jim Donelon said.

As Hurricane Ida hurtled toward south Louisiana, Paulette Tybussek, a resident of Jefferson Parish, weighed her options: ‘Do you put your life at risk and stay? Or do you evacuate?’

A fourth insurer has gone belly-up in Hurricane Ida’s aftermath. Louisiana’s Department of Insurance took over Lighthouse Property Insurance Corporation in a court-ordered receivership last week, making it the fourth financially troubled insurer to require rescue in recent months.

Try this word game, but a couple of disclaimers first: It’s not supposed to be fun, and it could have a severe effect on your property value. ‘In general, the analysis approach for leveed areas was similar to that for non-leveed areas, however the leveed area analysis relied solely on KatRisk and MDI because it was not possible to adjust the AIR and CoreLogic models based on the USACE analysis described above.’

After a disaster, Louisianans are running into problems with their insurance companies sending dozens of adjusters to their case -- leading to major delays in support. Some legislation is looking to tackle that problem despite insurance companies raising objections.

Failed insurance companies. Multi-billion dollar losses. Consumers on edge. Sound familiar? The last two years have dealt a punishing blow to Louisiana’s homeowners insurance market, much like the wave of hurricanes that rocked the Gulf Coast more than a decade ago.