Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said he is seeing signs of improvement in the state’s challenging insurance market, citing growing competition, fewer costly rate filings and some actual rate decreases. He attributes these positive trends to legislative reforms designed to attract carriers and stabilize the market after years of crisis.

“Insurance is arguably everyone’s least favorite subject,” Temple said with a laugh during Friday morning’s B2B Breakfast at Brickhouse Catering & Events. “But it is getting better.”

Over a 12-month and 10-day period five years ago, Louisiana was hit by Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and Ida. Those storms resulted in 800,000 claims filed and $24 billion in property claims paid out.

“The property market is about a $2 billion a year market so in that same 12-month period, the property market took in $2 billion in premiums and paid out $24 billion,” Temple said. “How long could your business sustain that? It was a catastrophic year for the industry and we are still seeing and feeling some of the ramifications of that.”

Twelve insurance companies went insolvent and 24 others left the state.

“Historically, after a catastrophic event in the state of Louisiana, about 1 percent of property claims were litigated,” Temple said. “With Hurricane Laura, it went to 9 percent; Delta it was 3 percent; Zeta was 2 percent; and with Ida it went back up to 8 percent. Insurance companies weren’t prepared for that. Like any business, they tried to recoup their loss and there were people treated unfairly.

“The market shrank, premiums went up and — because of supply and demand — the cost of their product went up,” he continued. “We’re all paying that.”

Temple — a Beauregard Parish native who rode out Hurricane Laura in DeRidder — said to the families and businesses still struggling, things are getting better.

Temple credits the sweeping insurance reforms passed during the 2025 Louisiana Legislative session for the progress.

“Those reforms were focused on property and we’re starting to see results,” he said. “We’re having fewer rate increases and the increases they are asking for are smaller. For the first time in five years we have companies taking rate decreases in the property market.”

Temple said he met with members of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance — an insurance market of last resort — on Thursday and learned they have shed 3,000 commercial property policies over the last 12 months.

“That means those businesses were able to get back into the standard market, which is a good sign that there is more capacity to get back into the state,” he said. “It doesn’t mean it’s for everybody, it doesn’t mean that it’s all across the state, but it is an indication that things are improving.”

Temple said Louisiana continues to pay the highest automobile insurance premiums in the country, mostly due to the high volume of bodily injury claims. In 2021, Louisiana had 66,000 bodily injury claims.

“The industry paid $1 billion in Louisiana for those bodily injury claims,” Temple said. “Who do you think pays for that? We do. That’s what we’re trying to stop. That’s what we’re trying to reset.”

Temple said during the past legislative session, lawmakers were able to figure out how the system was being abused and what laws would discourage that.

Temple said several key bills passed during the session will discourage system abuse, including the modified comparative fault law. This change, enacted through House Bill 431, significantly alters how fault and damages are determined.

“Before, if I caused an auto accident and am 90 percent at fault, I could still sue you, recover and get 10 percent of that even though I caused the accident,” Temple said. “With the law that passed, now if I’m found to have caused 51 percent of the accident, I can’t sue. That’s pretty fair. Thirty-four other states have this law.”

The law went into effect on Jan. 1 and Temple said he has high expectations the insurance market will see changes because of it.

Louisiana also passed significant medical transparency insurance bills (like Senate Bill 231 and House Bill 34) focused on collateral source reform, allowing juries to see both billed and actual paid amounts for medical expenses in lawsuits, aiming to reduce inflated claims and “phantom damages,” with a focus on making auto accident lawsuits fairer by limiting recoverable costs to what was actually paid.

Louisiana’s “No Pay, No Play” law, significantly updated by House Bill 434, penalizes uninsured drivers by barring them from recovering the first $100,000 in bodily injury and property damage claims after an accident, even if not at fault, and requires them to pay court costs if they sue. This aims to boost insurance compliance, raising the financial stakes for uninsured motorists to encourage them to get coverage.

Temple said 11 percent of the vehicles in Louisiana don’t have insurance on them.

“Insurance companies do not have to do business here. We compete with Texas and Mississippi and all the other states for insurance companies. They have a finite capacity. They put their money at risk where they think it’s going to be treated fairly and they’re going to have an opportunity to try and make a profit. That’s my job to bring them here. That’s my challenge, and we’re starting to be successful.”

Temple said in past two years, about a dozen new companies have come in to Louisiana’s market.

“They’re starting to do business, they’re starting to do private homeowners, they’re starting to do commercial property, so we’re getting there.”