Finance & Insurance Week: LA’s Insecure Insurance Market, FL’s Upcoming Insurance Special Session & More

Many LA Homeowners Insured by Small, Untested Carriers

Before Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in 2005, most homeowners insured their properties with industry giants, like Allstate, Farmers, State Farm or USAA. But now many homeowners in the state are covered by small insurance companies that don’t even have agents or the local expertise necessary to write policies, outsourcing their operations to third parties, known as managing general agents, instead.

Most of the major insurers left Louisiana after Katrina, and investors from across the country have been able to set up insurance businesses in the state without actually having to run them. In years when there’s not a major storm, they can draw dividends from the millions of dollars in premiums their firm’s write. But the flood of claims after a major hurricane is likely to force them to close up shop. Hurricane Laura in 2020 and Hurricane Ida in 2021 have actually driven 11 firms out of business. (ADVOCATE [BATON ROUGE])

FL Special Session on Insurance Tentatively Set for Mid-December

Official word hasn’t come yet from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), but state legislative leaders have set Dec. 12 as the date for a second special session on property insurance. Potential issues include the elimination of one-way attorney fees in claims litigation and additional limits on assignment-of-benefits agreements. (INSURANCE JOURNAL)

Insurance Costs Hindering Development in South Florida

In spite of growing demand for residential and commercial property in south Florida, developers are putting major projects on hold, due to skyrocketing insurance premiums. A San Antonio-based development executive who’d been planning to build large apartment buildings in south Florida told the Wall Street Journal that insurance premiums have risen 30 percent in recent months. (INSURANCE JOURNAL)

Continued Growth for U.S. E&S Premiums

Growth of the U.S. excess and surplus insurance market is continuing, according to analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence. E&S premiums surged $37.6 billion in the first six months of this year, after increasing 27.6 percent over the first six months of 2021. (INSURANCE JOURNAL)

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK