Seventeen percent of Louisiana residents say insurance companies canceled their homeowner’s policies last year, according to an LSU survey released Tuesday.
And a majority of residents polled say insurance rates are on the rise and are higher than in other states.
In the second of three installments of the Louisiana Survey, conducted by LSU’s Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs, 63% of homeowner’s insurance policyholders and 54% of flood insurance ones said the cost of coverage has increased in the past year.
La. Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon speaks in the House of Representatives on Feb. 1, 2023, as the state legislature considers his plan to stabilize the homeowners' insurance market.
Of automobile insurance policyholders, 43% said they pay more compared to the previous year, while only 10% said they pay less.
A majority of participants also said insurance rates are higher in Louisiana than in other states. Sixty-nine percent of the people interviewed said homeowner’s insurance costs more here, 71% said flood insurance costs more and 67% said automobile insurance costs more in Louisiana.
The survey results are based on responses from 500 adult Louisiana residents during telephone interviews that were conducted between March 22 and April 4. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.8 percentage points.
Eleven percent of participants sought a homeowner’s insurance policy last year but had difficulty obtaining one.
Of the flood insurance policyholders interviewed, 9% reported their provider canceled their policy in the past year, and 4% of them tried to obtain a flood insurance policy but had trouble getting one.
Nineteen percent of the people interviewed said they have filed a property claim on their homeowner’s, flood or automobile insurance policy over the past two years.
These individuals split almost evenly between those who were satisfied and those who were dissatisfied with how their insurance company handled their claim. Fifty-one percent said they were satisfied, and 48% said they were dissatisfied.
The aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Dulac. Louisiana's private insurers have dwindled since last April, as nearly a dozen withdrawing from the market and several others have gone insolvent. The state's insurer of last resort, Louisiana Citizens, and other agencies have stepped in to assume residents' homeowners policies.
The findings come after several hurricanes caused severe damage in south Louisiana. Eight insurance companies covering Louisiana residents failed, and a dozen more stopped writing policies in Louisiana after destructive hurricane seasons in 2020 and 2021. The state Legislature created a $45 million fund earlier this year to try to lure insurers back to the state.
Flood insurance rates also are rising substantially in some areas as the federal flood insurance programs links its premium levels more closely to the risks it faces.