SafePoint to Assume 24K Louisiana Policies From Americas

SafePoint Insurance Co. will assume approximately 24,000 homeowners policies in Louisiana from Americas Insurance Co., which was placed into receivership in January after suffering heavy losses from a series of hurricanes in 2020 and 2021.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon announced March 2 that SafePoint’s takeover of Americas policies is retroactive to Feb. 1, allowing policyholders to avoid searching for new insurance or turning to Louisiana’s state-sponsored insurer of last resort.

SafePoint previously assumed approximately 30,000 homeowners policies from two insolvent insurers, Access Home and State National Fire, in Dec. 2021. SafePoint is taking on 53,000 policies altogether.

Based in Tampa, Florida, SafePoint has been licensed in Louisiana since 2015. The insurer had $959,035 in direct written homeowners premium at the end of 2020 and 0.05% of the state’s homeowners insurance market.

Americas by contrast covered 1.31% of Louisiana’s homeowners insurance market at the end of 2020. Americas reported approximately 13,000 Hurricane Ida-related, the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) said.

The Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) is responsible for those Ida-related claims, as well as for claims from other events, that were incurred prior to February 1, 2022. LIGA can pay up to $500,000 per claim.

SafePoint will cover any insurance claims incurred on or after Feb. 1.

The LDI said SafePoint has voluntarily agreed to grant customers who had been with Americas for more than three years the protection provided by Louisiana’s three-year consumer protection statue that makes it difficult for companies to non-renew or change rates or coverage on an individual basis.

“These transfers will occur even if the customer’s home was damaged by Hurricane Ida and has not yet been repaired,” the LDI said. “SafePoint is also guaranteeing renewals of all policies for at least one year after February 1.”

Topics Louisiana Homeowners