Louisiana Citizens to Shuttle 40,000 More Policies
Insurer Raising Rates 14% Statewide
Six insurance companies, some participating in the Insure Louisiana Incentive Program, want to assume 46,898 policies from the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation by Dec. 1, 2008, the Louisiana Department of Insurance reported. However, Citizens CEO John Wortman expects the final number of policies removed to be closer to 40,000.
Citizens had approximately 165,000 property insurance policies on its books before insurers removed more than 26,000 policies on June 1. After the latest round of removals, the high risk property insurer will have about 100,000 policies. The approximately 40,000 policies to be removed from Citizens represent a total exposure of $6.3 billion with an annualized premium of $83 million, the department said.
On Nov. 15, Citizens will send the policies approved for removal to the insurers. The companies will send an assumption certificate to each policyholder on their list. Policy holders have 30 days to opt out of the assumption if they want to stay with Citizens. Citizens will maintain the policies until renewal, which begins March 1.
Citizens’ board has approved a 14 percent statewide average rate increase. The Associated Press reported with the rate hike, the average policyholder would see a premium increase of $224 to $240 per year. Policies selected for removal from Citizens will not be subject to the rate increase.