Insurance commissioner encourages homeowners to shop around

Louisiana’s rule that says a property insurer cannot drop a policyholder if the customer has been paying the premiums for three years served the state well after Hurricane Katrina, officials say. But the rule also encourages homeowners to stick with their current insurer, since people fear losing that security if they switch, and Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has lent support to that view. But now Donelon says the market is competitive enough that it’s worth shopping around. “Of late, I’ve been telling folks they should shop, as I did, and feel free to move because we have a lot of competition,” he says. New companies have begun writing policies in the state, and some companies that were here pre-Katrina have doubled their writings, including Liberty Mutual, Republic Group and Farmers, Donelon says. At worst, if another major hurricane hits and the new insurer drops you, you can always get a policy with Louisiana Citizens, the state-backed insurer of last resort. Citizens is more expensive, but the money you save in the interim could more than offset the higher cost, Donelon says. —David Jacobs