Town Hall: Commissioner Jim Donelon takes questions about Louisiana's insurance crisis

Mar. 10—Louisiana's property insurance market is floundering under the weight of successive disasters.

Nearly two dozen insurers, swamped by claims, have either gone belly up or left the state since a series of hurricanes hit the state in 2020. As a result, premiums have skyrocketed, and thousands of property owners have been forced to turn to state's insurer of last resort, which is costlier than the private market by design.

As a fix, State Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon urged the state to spend $45 million in incentives to lure more private insurers, a plan backed last month by the Legislature and Gov. John Bel Edwards. He's also planning to support additional legislation to address the crisis when lawmakers convene next month.

Donelon, who is up for re-election this year, will join The Times-Picayune — The Advocate on March 17 at 10 a.m. to answer questions about that solution and the current insurance crisis.

Editorial Page Director and Columnist Stephanie Grace and Capitol News Bureau Editor Jessica Williams will moderate the discussion, which is sponsored by AARP and which will be streamed live on NOLA.com, theadvocate.com, and on The Times-Picayune — The Advocate's Facebook and YouTube pages.

Readers may submit questions for Donelon by using this form.

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