FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2023

Insure Louisiana Incentive Companies Wrote 17,000 Policies Through May, SafePoint Seeking 20,000 Additional Citizens Policies

Donelon Urges Citizens Policyholders to Contact Their Agents About Depopulation

Commissioner Jim Donelon announced today that over 17,000 policies have been written through the Insure Louisiana Incentive Program as of May 31. The top five parishes for new policies are Jefferson, Orleans, St. Tammany, Terrebonne and St. Charles.

“These results show the program is working as intended to provide immediate relief to thousands of homeowners who would otherwise be without an affordable policy. Unfortunately, many more of our friends and neighbors still need help,” said Commissioner Donelon. “The Incentive Program companies will continue writing in the coming months, and I expect their success will encourage other insurers to resume writing in our market.”

In addition to the 17,197 policies that have been written to date, SafePoint Insurance and its affiliate Cajun Underwriters (CURE) have been approved to take 19,689 policies out of Louisiana Citizens during the upcoming round of depopulation. The assumption date for those policies is October 1.

“I strongly urge all Citizens policyholders to contact their agents now and request to be notified if they have an opportunity to leave Citizens for SafePoint or CURE,” said Commissioner Donelon. “Getting policyholders out of Citizens is vital to our state’s economic recovery, and I’ve been troubled by the high number of depopulation requests that have gone unfulfilled in recent months.”

The Insure Louisiana Incentive Program offers matching grants to incentivize insurance companies to write residential and commercial policies in vulnerable areas, including writing policies out of Citizens. Participating insurance companies must meet solvency standards that are in line with standards required by the federally backed mortgage companies. The insurers will also be subject to enhanced solvency monitoring including, but not limited to, newly increased capital and surplus requirements, monthly reporting and in-depth reinsurance program reviews.

The latest Incentive Program report can be viewed here.

About the Louisiana Department of Insurance: The Louisiana Department of Insurance works to improve competition in the state’s insurance market while assisting individuals and businesses with the information and resources they need to be informed consumers of insurance. As a regulator, the LDI enforces the laws that provide a fair and stable marketplace and makes certain that insurers comply with the laws in place to protect policyholders. You can contact the LDI by calling 1-800-259-5300 or visiting www.ldi.la.gov.