Louisiana launches new round of fortified roof grants. Here's how to apply.

The final round of grants for a new program to help homeowners fortify their roofs in an effort to bring down property insurance costs will launch Monday, Nov. 27.

The Louisiana Department of Insurance will select the final 750 applicants for the grant program, which launched with fanfare in October. Outgoing Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon modeled the program after a similar effort in Alabama, and the state Legislature set aside $30 million to fund it.

In all, the program is expected to pay for fortified roofs for about 3,000 homeowners. Insurance Department spokesperson John Ford said more grants may be awarded after Monday if people drop out of the program.

The program gives up to $10,000 for each homeowner to repair or replace their roof to the "fortified" standard defined by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety. The department said applicants should review eligibility information and create a profile on its website before applying.

Previous rounds of grants went quickly, so homeowners are encouraged to apply as soon as the portal opens at noon Monday.

To qualify, homeowners must have a homestead exemption on the property, proof of an active insurance policy with wind coverage and flood insurance if they're in a flood hazard area, be in good repair and meet other criteria.

The first 1,500 grants in the program were designated for policyholders of Citizens, the state's insurer of last resort, which by law charges its customers 10% above market rate. The second batch of 1,500 are available to all homeowners across the state. Homeowners must pay for permits, inspections and construction costs beyond the $10,000 grant.

Homeowners must get certified builders to install the new roofs and get the work verified by a third party. Once they complete the process, they get a certificate that can land them a sizable discount on their property insurance.

The grants to be doled out Monday represent the last batch of state aid set aside to date for fortified roofs. They could be the last such grants, period. Incoming Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple, a Republican who ran unopposed to succeed Donelon, has remained noncommittal on whether more state money should go into the program.

"I want to see what other states are doing," Temple said in a recent interview with the Times-Picayune. "There's no reason to think that Louisiana has to come up with its own solutions all on its own. But if the program creates a more attractive risk, that means more insurance, then we've got to figure out how to make it work."

Donelon, who did not seek re-election, has championed the program as a way to help address the underlying problem of Louisiana's spiraling property insurance market: risk. Bigger insurance companies have shied away from insuring some of the riskiest areas of the state, and in some of them, Citizens is the only game in town. A crop of smaller insurers filled in the gaps in recent years, but 12 regional insurers writing in Louisiana went bust in the past two years.