Louisiana Senate OKs Bill to Extend Insurance Incentive Program

The Louisiana Senate approved Senate Bill 588 by Sen. Don Cravins Jr. that would extend the “Insure Louisiana Incentive Program,” begun last year with $100 million, for a third round of grant offers to insurers. In the first two rounds, private firms accepted $39 million in exchange for taking over homeowners policies now written by Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-backed insurance company. The remaining money will revert back to the state general fund without an extension of the program.

Cravins, chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee, said he expected more companies to apply for grants after this year’s hurricane season.

State Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon told Insurance Journal that initially he was disappointed that not more companies had applied for the program. He was encouraged, however, that several companies have expressed interest in applying if the program is extended.

The Senate approved an amendment to Cravin’s bill by Sen. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette that would take whatever money is left over from the incentive fund after the third round of offers and give it to homeowners to offset their insurance bills.

Cravins said it’s impossible to know how much each homeowner would receive if the bill becomes law, because it depends on how much money is left in the fund.