Gov. Edwards calls special section to address insurance issues

On Sunday, Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a call for the Louisiana Legislature to convene an extraordinary session to appropriate funds to the Insure Louisiana Incentive Fund, a fund created in the 2022 legislative session with the goal of attracting more insurance companies to Louisiana.

"Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has stressed that funding the Insure Louisiana Incentive Fund cannot wait until the regular session in April. I am grateful for the cooperation of the Senate President and House Speaker and the legislature in calling this special session focused on this Fund," Edwards said. "While Commissioner Donelon says we must do this now, this is just a first step in addressing Louisiana's ongoing insurance issues after the devastating hurricane seasons of 2020 and 2021, a crisis worsened by hurricanes and wildfires in other states in 2022. We will continue to work on this issue during the regular session beginning in April."

The special session will convene at noon on Monday, Jan. 30 and adjourn no later than 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 5th. Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has asked for $45 million to provide incentives for more property insurers to come to the state as he did after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. A number of companies have left Louisiana or filed bankruptcy.

The special section comes at a time when residential property insurance complaints increased 1,094% between 2019 and 2021.

Senate President Page Cortez said, "Commissioner Donolen has stated that time is of the essence with regard to the legislature's funding of the incentive program and thus the need to go into a special session. While we understand this will not completely solve the crisis we recognize the urgency."

Louisiana Department of Insurance issued a total of 25 actions against homeowners insurance companies and more than 1,90o actions against adjusters between 2017 and 2021, with the vast majority related to administrative issues and inaccurate addresses.

House Speaker Clay Schexnayder said, "While a special session to fund the Louisiana Incentive Fund is not going to solve the issue of availability and affordability of property insurance for our citizens, it is a short term band-aid that can be a first step toward a more long term solution. The House will continue to work for a more permanent fix to this situation so that our businesses and property owners don't have to go through this continuous cycle. We have to attract more companies to write policies in our state. We expect that Commissioner Donelon will make the incentive program work as a temporary fix, but we need to do more to solve the problem."