BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – As the state continues to fall into a property insurance crisis, the Louisiana Insurance Commissioner announced potential solutions at the Press Club.

“The crisis we’re in is unlike nothing that anyone that’s lived in the state has seen before,” said newly elected Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple. “We need to have it. We just need to make sure that it’s more available and more affordable.”

Temple addressed problems in the insurance world for Louisiana residents, especially regarding the 2020 hurricane season when four hurricanes struck in the state. 

“800,000 claims, property claims that the industry had never experienced anything on that level. Twelve companies went insolvent,” Temple said. “Twelve companies that took your premium dollars and promised you to pay and didn’t because they either didn’t have the right business plan, they didn’t have the right financial reserves, they didn’t have the right reinsurance purchased.” 

Now to avoid that issue, he hopes to bring in reliable and more insurance companies to the state, which is why he sends out this message in hopes to decrease insurance with this plan. 

“I want you doing business in the state of Louisiana. I want to work with you so that you can do business in the state of Louisiana because I want your competition benefiting the consumers and the state of Louisiana,” said Temple. 

Temple also gave an insight into what he plans on bringing to legislation, one being an increase in state grant funding known as the fortified program. 

“We’re going to also ask that they increase that to $10,000 here in Louisiana so that we can encourage and promote stronger roofs because, like I said, we’ve got so many properties exposed to hurricane winds,” he said.

Temple believes that he will be successful in getting more funds, showing support towards the program and hopes to get it from the industry. 

“I think that we’ll be successful getting that money, I’m certainly supportive of it. What I’m going to propose going forward is just a different funding mechanism so that we don’t have to go to the legislature every year to fund this important program,” Temple said. “And there’s a mechanism where we can actually fee the industry itself so that the industry is paying for the fortified roof.”

In regards to incentives to bring insurers to the state, he stated his goal. 

“You know, my incentive is to be a state that insurance companies want to come in because we’re steady, reliable, predictable, and you’re treated fairly,” he said. 

Based on incentives towards the Insure Louisiana Incentive Program that was funded last year, he said he has none. 

“I didn’t like that program. If I’d been in the seat, I wouldn’t have asked for it. It didn’t address the fundamental issues that we’re trying to deal with right now. It was, you know, giving somebody with a headache a band-aid,” said Temple. 

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