The package was backed by Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has now signed into law a property insurance package that had the strong backing of the state’s Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple. The goal of the measure is to help the state overcome its current coverage crisis.
The package is meant to make the state’s market more industry friendly
Four bills were signed by Landry in the hopes of benefitting the property insurance industry by granting new freedoms for raising customer rates, canceling policies, and facing fewer legal struggles when they determine not to pay a claim.
The four bills were a part of Temple’s broader plan for establishing what he has labeled a “free market” for insurers in Louisiana. The Republican commissioner spent his time before winning last fall’s election as a part of the insurance market, owning and managing insurers he now regulates.
This property insurance step is a sharp turn from the previous commissioner
Temple has taken the Louisiana Department of Insurance in a direction well away from where the previous commissioner, Jim Donelon, had been heading. Through this move, Temple aims to reduce regulation and boost appeal in the state’s market for insurers to participate.
According to his strategy, additional competition will result, leading to lower rates for consumers and an eventual end to the coverage crisis that has been plaguing the state following a 12-month run of natural disasters from 2020 into 2021.
Not everyone is convinced
Though the property insurance package passed and has been signed by the governor, not all lawmakers are convinced that this strategy will have the desired effect, and that even if it does cause some improvements, they won’t be enough or occur fast enough to benefit residents of Louisiana who have now already faced years of rapidly climbing prices and a lack of coverage options.
The strategy has been called a gamble that places the insurance industry in the favorable position, not home and business owners who need affordable coverage now.
“Tim Temple’s insurance bill package is a win for insurance companies and does nothing to guarantee help for the people of Louisiana suffering through this insurance crisis,” read a statement issued by Housing Louisiana.