Latest Louisiana Headlines

All the headlines from our Louisiana Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Injury Hotspots From Coast to Coast

May 19 2008 // Ongoing efforts to curb workplace injuries have made substantial progress in most parts of the country. That’s good news for employees, of course, and for employers, whose workers’ compensation insurance...

Louisiana Legislature Doing Homework on Insurance, Lobbyist Says

May 16 2008 // About 55 percent of the lawmakers in the 2008 Louisiana Legislature are new to the job but they are doing their homework on insurance issues, one surplus lines insurance industry representative says.David Tatman of Baton...

Court to Hear Appeal in Former Louisiana AG’s Katrina Antitrust Suit

May 14 2008 // A federal appeals court in New Orleans agreed to consider whether an antitrust lawsuit that former Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti filed against some of the nation’s largest insurance companies belongs in...

Louisiana Citizens CEO Gets Raise

May 14 2008 // Louisiana’s insurer of last resort collected $4 million extra in reinsurance from the 2005 hurricanes and, at the suggestion of the state insurance commissioner, rewarded its chief executive with a 10 percent...

Workers’ Comp Costs-Per-Claim in High Louisiana, Research Group Says

May 12 2008 // Workers’ compensation costs per claim in Louisiana were 28 percent higher than the median of 14 study states for a similar set of 2003/2006 claims, according to a new study by the Cambridge, Mass.-based Workers...

Alabama Joins 3 other Katrina-stricken States to Update House Panel

May 12 2008 // An Alabama official estimates the state needs between $100 million to $110 million – double its allocated federal aid – to address persistent housing needs in 22 counties declared disaster areas from Hurricane...

Louisiana House Panel OKs Hike in Car Insurance Minimum

May 9 2008 // In a move that insurers say could lead to Louisiana having the highest auto insurance liability rates in the nation, a House of Representatives committee has approved HB 1312, which would raise the minimum insurance...

Louisiana House Committee OKs Repeal of Motorcycle Helmet Law

May 8 2008 // The Louisiana House Transportation committee has voted to approve a bill under which the state would stop forcing adult motorcyclists to wear helmets. Instead bikers would be required to undergo safety training before...

Ratings Recap: Calif. Auto/Mercury, Arrowhead, Louisiana Farm, Chubb, Triad

May 8 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on California Automobile Insurance Co. (California Auto) to ‘A+’ from ‘A’. S&P...

House Panel Approves Changes to Louisiana Building Codes

May 7 2008 // A Louisiana House committee has approved changes to the statewide building code, including a provision aimed at easing the construction inspection process in north Louisiana.North Louisiana lawmakers in particular have...

Louisiana Citizens Insurance Begins Transferring Homeowners Policies

May 7 2008 // The Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-sponsored insurer of last resort, will be nearly its pre-Hurricane Katrina size after responsibility for 30,000 homeowner policies is transferred to private...

Sloan Mason Opens Louisiana Office with Focus on Marine, Energy

May 6 2008 // San Diego, Calif.-based MGA and wholesale insurance broker Sloan Mason Insurance Services opened a new office in New Orleans, La. Sloan Mason specializes in the marine and energy business and will introduce specialty...

La. Suspends License, Fines Agent Accused of Pocketing Premiums

May 5 2008 // Jennifer Mason Hudspeth, a Lacombe, La., area insurance agent facing charges that she misappropriated insurance premiums has been served with a cease and desist order, summary suspension and a $5,000 fine notice for...

La. Senate OKs Regional Deductibles for Homeowners Policies

May 2 2008 // The Louisiana Senate voted to allow insurance companies to set different, “named storm” deductibles on homeowner policies depending on how far a property is from the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico.Louisiana is...

Coast Strongly Influences Louisiana, Texas Property Markets

May 1 2008 // Louisiana and Texas share a lot. Besides sharing a common border, they share the Gulf of Mexico — both its bounty and its battering, in the form of tropical storms and hurricanes. The latter greatly influences the rates...

Louisiana Parish President Still Facing Katrina Lawsuits

Apr 30 2008 // On the eve of Hurricane Katrina, massive pumps that keep water out of the New Orleans suburb of Metairie went silent when the roughly 100 workers who run them were allowed to flee under a “doomsday” evacuation...

Louisiana Keeps Pressure on Road Home Contractor

Apr 28 2008 // Even as it met a deadline to avoid a $3.3 million performance penalty, the private company that runs Louisiana’s Road Home program faced a new $1.65 million fine if it did not meet additional benchmarks designed to...

La. Senator Pleads Not Guilty in Illegal Insurance Business Case

Apr 25 2008 // A Louisiana state senator pleaded not guilty to charges of helping a convicted felon launder money to conceal her operation of an illegal insurance business.Sen. Derrick Shepherd, 38, a lawyer from a New Orleans suburb,...

Louisiana Citizens Remains on Rating Watch Negative

Apr 24 2008 // Fitch Ratings said recently that the ‘BBB’ Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and the ‘BBB’ underlying ratings on Citizens’ $978.2 million...

Louisiana Senate Approves Bill to Extend Insurance Incentive Program

Apr 24 2008 // The Louisiana Senate has voted to allow the state to continue offering millions in taxpayer dollars to private insurance firms that agree to begin writing homeowners policies along the hurricane-vulnerable coast.Senators...