Louisiana Property Policyholders Urged to File for Citizens Insurance Rebate

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is once again reminding property insurance policyholders that tax season is one of the easiest times to claim the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Assessment rebate.

At a joint press conference, Donelon and Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) Director of Customer Service Kent LaPlace encouraged Louisiana property owners to claim their Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) rebate when they file their taxes.

Donelon said the rebate can be claimed at any time during the year but tax season is the most convenient.

Nearly $240 million in Citizens rebates were unclaimed at the end 2013, he said.

The Citizens assessments apply to all Louisiana property insurance policyholders and stem from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

“The amount of the assessment rebate can be found on the declaration page of a property insurance policy. Once a policyholder knows the amount of their assessment, they can claim their rebates for 2010 through 2013 in one of three ways:

Businesses may claim the Citizens rebate by filing the Department of Revenue Form R-620INS or by filing a current-year or amended tax return. Individual policyholders may also claim the rebate by amending a prior-year tax return. A copy of the insurance policy declaration page showing proof of the assessment amount must be attached to any claim form.

Donelon noted that the allotted time to claim funds for 2006 through 2009 has expired and nearly $256 million or 54 percent of those assessment funds went unclaimed. The option to claim the 2010 assessment will expire after Dec. 31, 2014.

The Citizens assessment on insurance companies is to amortize the bonds issued by Citizens to cover the damages caused by the hurricanes of 2005 in excess of their cash and available reinsurance. The assessment was passed on to property and casualty policyholders each year by insurance companies. This Citizens assessment is fully refundable to consumers by the State of Louisiana once they have paid their annual insurance bill.

Source: Louisiana Department of Insurance