Insurer of Last Resort Sees Continued Drop in Policy Count

NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said that Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-sponsored “insurer of last resort,” continues to shed policies even in the face of the most active hurricane season on record.

Citizens, which covers properties that the private insurance industry won’t, is now in its 14th round of depopulation, an organized process through which selected policies are made available to regular insurance companies. Meanwhile, despite three hurricanes and two tropical storms hitting Louisiana during the 2020 season, Citizens reports no uptick in home or business owners seeking coverage, a sign of health in the local insurance market.

“By enacting a proactive reinsurance strategy and using modeling to select policies for depopulation, Citizens is in a strong financial position and providing stability to the homeowners market during a turbulent time,” said Donelon. “Despite the multiple hurricanes that hit the Louisiana coast last year, Citizens is in a great place to weather these financial storms and continue to support private sector competition in the property insurance marketplace.”