State residents who continue to be without electricity may benefit from the new rule.
Survivors of the disaster left behind by Hurricane Laura may benefit from a new Louisiana insurance regulation until their electricity is turned back on.
The new emergency rule applies to policyholders in the state implemented by Commissioner Donelon.
The new emergency Louisiana insurance regulation allows homeowners and business policyholders to file claims during times when hundreds of thousands of residents of the Southwestern part of the state remain without electricity. It is meant to provide these policyholders with additional “necessary protections,” according to the state’s Insurance Commissioner, Jim Donelon.
The new rule was designed to “give policyholders who have been displaced from their homes time to try and begin the process of recovery and avoid being penalized in any way for non-payment of premiums,” said Commissioner Donelon in a recent media release. This new regulation applies to properties that were damaged by Hurricane Laura or that suffer damage in a named storm in the future.
All policyholders residing in the storm affected parishes now have a legal extension for paying their insurance premiums after August 27. They will not suffer late fees, penalties, cancellations or non-renewals from their cancellations for these late payments. Parishes included in this rule include the following after Hurricane Laura: Lincoln, Jackson, Natchitoches, Cameron, Grant, Jefferson Davis, Ouachita, Sabine, Rapides, Vernon, Calcasieu, Beauregard, Allen, Vermilion, Acadia, and Winn.
This new emergency rule also grants affected policyholders with additional time for submitting their insurance claims. The reason is that it may be difficult for them to do so now because many evacuees from the damaged areas are being told to stay away from their properties until Southwest Louisiana’s power is turned on again. This means that they cannot return home or to their businesses in order to file the claims, even remotely. The Louisiana insurance regulation provides them with the 
time they need to file a claim while following the recommendations of state officials regarding their safe return to their properties.
