Replay: Insurance commissioner Jim Donelon answers your Hurricane Ida questions in town hall

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon joined Times-Picayune | Advocate editor Peter Kovacs this morning to answer readers' questions about insurance in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.

Donelon participated in a live Town Hall discussion beginning at 10 a.m. today. Click here to watch on YouTube.

Donelon said Wednesday that policyholders who were affected by Ida and Tropical Storm Nicholas - and who might have to weather more storms before this year's hurricane season ends - should file claims early and be prepared to fight for them.

The insurance costs for Hurricane Ida will not be tallied for some months to come. But catastrophe modeling firms such as AIR Worldwide and Karen Clark & Co. estimate them at $18 billion to $30 billion. Louisiana will still bear 90% of those costs, Donelon said.

A $30 billion storm would be the eighth most expensive in U.S. history.

Already, the Insurance Department has fielded more than 200 complaints from policyholders about Ida claims. That is a fairly typical rate; for hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta in 2020 storms, there were 1,700 complaints out of a total of 315,000 insurance claims. As a result of complaints to the Insurance Department, policyholders gained about $50 million, an average of $29,212 per complaint, Donelon said.

Staff writer Anthony McAuley contributed to this report.