As Policy Load Rises Steeply, Louisiana’s Insurer Of Last Resort Prepares For The Worst

Tens of thousands of homeowners and businesses have lost their property insurance coverage in the last year, following four major hurricanes, eight company failures and a dozen pullouts from the state’s increasingly dicey market.

The shakeup has triggered a mass migration away from small private insurers. Most people left without coverage have only one place to turn: Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run insurer of last resort.

The 75,000 homes and businesses Louisiana Citizens now counts on its rolls is more than double the number the insurer had when Hurricane Laura struck in August 2020.

As of June 2022, Louisiana Citizens had added some 40,000 policies -- a 109% increase, according to the most recent data.

The bulk of the policies were added in the New Orleans metro area, the state’s largest population center, with thousands of others being added in other coastal parishes south of Interstate 10. Officials say the trend has not slowed. Unofficial figures suggest the number of policies will top out above 100,000 as the number of broke insurers grows and more companies flee the state.