Louisiana moving forward in insurance legislation

The Louisiana senate move forward with changes for Citizens insurance that will hopefully help home and property owners with their coverage and recovery in the event of a hurricane or natural disaster. NOLA.com reports:

The state-run insurer of last resort should have new guidelines to set rates and possibly slow the increase in premiums to homeowners, the Senate decided today.

Approved 30-2, Senate Bill 130 by Sen. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, goes to the House Insurance Committee for more debate.
Hebert said if the bill had been in effect this year, the average 7 percent rate increase imposed May 1 by the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., would have been about 3.2 percent.

Hebert’s bill would require the reworking of the formula Citizens uses in setting rates. Under existing law, Citizens cannot charge competitive rates with private insurance companies in an area. It must add a 10 percent surcharge on top of the highest rate charged by private insurers in a parish.

With Louisiana, and any legislature in general, any progress is good progress. Hopefully rates will fall progressively with this new measure as coverage and damages require a full, multi-lateral effort amongst all involved.