[StBernard] Governor and Insurance Commissioner unveil joint legislative pa

[Westley Annis]

Governor Blanco and Insurance Commissioner Donelon unveil joint legislative package making insurance affordable and available in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE - To address Louisiana's current insurance crisis, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon today unveiled a joint legislative package to attract new insurers to the state, drive down rates and protect consumers. 

"While Louisiana is on the right road to recovery, we all know that journey will be short-lived if we do not have insurance to protect our new investments," Governor Blanco said. "Property insurability is inextricably linked to the future of our state. Our legislative package is designed to balance the need to create a competitive regulatory environment while ensuring that our citizens have adequate consumer protections and can realize a benefit from strengthening their property. Increased competition in our insurance market will increase availability and affordability." 

This bi-partisan approach continues an aggressive effort by the Governor and Insurance Commissioner to reduce risk across the state. Governor Blanco and Commissioner Donelon have traveled the nation to study successful public policy models and lobby insurers, re-insurers and industry groups on behalf of Louisiana consumers. Their proposal will create a competitive regulatory environment while ensuring affordable and adequate consumer protections and allow consumers to benefit from personal investments that strengthen their property. 

*	Consumer Bill of Rights - This legislation will clearly define the rights of consumers in their business transactions with insurance companies. 
*	Premium Reductions for Retrofitting - This puts an expectation on the insurance company to extend a benefit to the policyholder for reducing their risk. 
*	Regional Deductible Ranges - Currently, if an insurer needs to raise deductibles to manage their risk in one part of the state, they must apply those deductibles statewide. This statutory change will allow insurance companies to apply different deductible ranges across the state to accommodate differences in risk. 
*	Depopulate Citizens by Competitive Bid - This allows LA Citizens to bundle its policies for sale to private insurers, giving insurance companies that want to enter the Louisiana market or expand their Louisiana business an opportunity to bid on an existing book of business. 
*	Insurance Capital and Surplus Match Incentive - This proposal creates an incentive program for property insurance companies. If a qualified insurer commits new capital to write property insurance policies in Louisiana, and agrees to take policies out of LA Citizens, they would receive a grant matching their capital investment. 

"These measures will make Louisiana's insurance market more attractive to companies and benefit our policyholders," Commissioner Donelon said.

The legislative session begins April 30.

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