NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Louisiana’s Insurance Commissioner says reforms passed by this year’s Legislature are changing the insurance industry’s view of Louisiana and vowed to expand the state’s reinforced roof program next year.
Commissioner Tim Temple said the sometimes unpopular reforms have helped change the way Louisiana is viewed in the insurance industry, with three different insurance companies currently filing applications to begin writing policies in the state. He said there was.
“We’re under attack from every direction. This is the worst insurance industry our state, our people have ever experienced, and probably will be forever,” Temple said Wednesday night at the Jefferson He spoke to a packed crowd in the parish. “We didn’t get into this crisis overnight, and we’re not going to get out of this crisis overnight. It’s going to take time.”
Temple said at City Hall that he could not say when new companies will enter the state’s insurance market because he wants to do the necessary due diligence on each company.
“We want to make sure that the companies that come to Louisiana are solid, high-quality companies that have the intention of being here long-term. Insurance companies don’t have to do business here,” he told FOX 8. Insurance companies don’t have to do business here. We need to keep that in mind and look at the regulatory and legal environment.”
He cited three major reforms passed this year, including an amendment to the three-year rule that requires insurers that insure a home for three years to continue insuring it forever.
“The insurance industry has responded positively,” Temple said. “We have a company that has submitted an application to start construction on your property, your home.”
But much of the night was spent discussing the state’s new Enhanced Roofing Program, or Home Enhancement Program, which provides subsidies to homeowners who pay for roof upgrades in exchange for discounted rates.
Although the program is only a year old, Temple said 1,500 roofs have been strengthened across Louisiana.
“I want to install reinforced roofs on as many homes in Louisiana as possible,” he said.
Next year, he plans to ask Congress to create a permanent funding source to continue the grant program, rather than asking Congress every year.
He said funding would come from a combination of license fees and insurance premiums already paid.
Temple said he is also asking the state to expand the program to include hardened windows and doors.
“Last year, Louisiana did a great job of kickstarting the program with the Bronze Program, which is a fortified roof program. There is a need,” he said.
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