Louisiana: We Are Building It, Will They Come’

Ihave the privilege of serving as vice president of the Louisiana Surplus Line Association (LSLA) and chairman of the Louisiana Surplus Line Task Force. Our goal has been to share our thoughts on regulatory reforms and proposed legislation with the Loui-siana Department of Insurance, Louisiana Legis-lature, PIAL and IIABL to assist Louisiana in attracting new companies and additional insurance capacity. Louisiana has made dramatic improvements in building a better legal climate with significant changes in our tort system and regulatory structure.

Building it

Property insurance

Will they come?
Louisiana has enjoyed the reputation of being a “friendly” surplus lines state. However, the exodus of admitted standard markets continues to create a fluid and extremely fluctuating insurance environment. Historically, surplus line carriers have increased their writings in Louisiana and have experienced profitable results. This makes it difficult to attract additional capacity from carriers currently writing in Louisiana to fill certain voids in the market because they have allocated their existing Louisiana capital to classes of business with a proven track record.

Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Robert Wooley has dramatically improved the DOI and has become the Louisiana Insurance Chamber of Commerce, promoting legislative improvements in Louisiana and pushing progressive reforms. With the help of his staff, IIABL, PIAL and the LSLA, Wooley has experienced success in convincing companies to enter, return and/or expand in Louisiana.

We will continue to promote the successes of “Building a Better Louisiana” in hopes that “THEY WILL COME!”

Richard W. Jenkins, CIC, is executive vice president of First Premium Insurance Group Inc. in Covington, La.