LOUISIANA, USA — A special session in Baton Rouge Wednesday afternoon could be the beginning of the end of the insurance crisis in Louisiana. Wednesday, the Louisiana House voted to allocate 45 million dollars from the state general fund to the Insure Louisiana Incentive Program. Lawmakers also passed a second bill to limit how that money will be spent.
Last year, Louisiana lawmakers set up the framework for the program in order to lure insurance companies back to the state, but the program hasn’t been funded.
This brings Louisiana one step closer.
Tens of thousands of Louisianans were dumped by their homeowner’s insurance companies or their premiums went through the roof last year. Several insurance companies folded or packed up and left Louisiana thanks to several major hurricanes.
Some lawmakers have warned that insurance prices are driving people out of their homes and maybe even out of the state.
The Insure Louisiana Incentive Program is intended to bring insurance companies back into the state, give homeowners more options, bring more competition to the market, and decrease the number of homeowners relying on the insurer of last resort.
Now – here’s how the program is laid out by law.
The insurance commissioner will issue a public invitation for insurers to submit grant applications. Those grants are worth between two and 10 million dollars.
If all the money isn’t used up by the first or even second round of applications, insurers who already got a grant can apply for more money.
This is set up so that only financially sound companies can come back. Company leaders who were part of a bankrupt or insolvent company in Louisiana in the past are not welcome to apply.
The bill now goes to committee in the Senate and could be in front of the full senate as soon as Friday.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.