Louisiana Agency to Pay $1.2M Refund for Illegal Overcharging on Surety Premiums

A Louisiana insurance agency has been ordered to pay $1.2 million in premium refunds for overcharging fraudulent fees on commercial surety bond policies.

The Louisiana Department of Insurance announced that Alexander Ellsworth and his agency, Ellsworth Corporation, will pay a $250,000 fine in addition to the premium repayments. The $250,000 fine is the maximum allowed by Louisiana law.

Ellsworth Corporation illegally overcharged a construction company $284,000 in excess of quoted premiums for surety bonds, according to a 2023 cease-and-desist letter.

“Construction companies require commercial surety bonds before beginning construction projects and rely on licensed agents to lawfully and fairly handle their policy transactions with insurance companies,” said Commissioner Tim Temple.

An investigation by LDI’s Office of Fraud Insurance found that Ellsworth unlawfully added to Arch Insurance Company’s quoted premium charge. Ellsworth created an illegally inflated Arch surety bond premium which would mislead the construction company to believe that the total invoice balance was Arch’s actual quoted premium, the investigation found.

A cease-and-desist letter was in the appellate process until an agreement was reached on Jan. 28, 2026.

“For an agent to profit from breaking Louisiana‘s insurance laws violates that trust and will not be tolerated,” Temple said.