One-Two Punch Of Laura, Delta Triggers Hurricane Deductible Waiver

Oct. 14--The similar paths of hurricanes Laura and Delta have triggered a law that prevents Louisiana policyholders from paying a hurricane deductible twice during the same storm season.

"We're really glad to have this protection in place," said Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon. People who met their deductible as a result of Laura don't have to pay it again if their home sustained damage from Delta -- or any future 2020 named storm. For people who didn't exhaust their deductible during Laura, the remainder will apply to Delta, only if the unused amount is larger than the standard all-perils deductible.

Donelon said the state Legislature changed the law in 2009 to enact the single deductible per season rule after hurricanes Gustav and Ike threatened the Houma area a year earlier. Ike veered to the left as it approached the Louisiana coast and ended up making landfall in Galveston, Texas.

Louisiana legislators copied a Florida law that was enacted after three hurricanes hit the Orlando area in 2004.

It isn't known yet how many people sustained damage from Laura and Delta. Delta made landfall Friday in Cameron Parish, about 12 miles away from where Laura hit the state a little over a month earlier.

Getting damage estimates for Delta has been difficult, since a number of homes were hit earlier by Laura, Donelon said. It's a lot easier to estimate damage when a hurricane rips a roof off of a house, compared to determining how much more an already damaged home was affected, he said.

"It's a much more challenging claims experience," he said.

Analystics company CoreLogic estimates Delta did $650 million to $1.1 billion in damage in Louisiana and $50 million to $100 million in damage to Texas. The company estimated Laura damages in Louisiana at $8 billion to $12 billion, with less than $500 million in Texas damages.

State Farm, the largest homeowners insurance company in Louisiana with about 278,000 policies, said Monday that 5,120 claims had been filed, along with 590 auto claims. That compares with 7,430 homeowner claims and 750 auto claims in the immediate aftermath of Laura.

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