Louisiana's home insurance market after the hurricanes

Louisiana is the most expensive state for home insurance by the NAIC's measure, with an average HO-3 premium of $3,027 for 2023 against $1,737 nationally. A run of hurricanes in 2020 and 2021 led to 11 insurer insolvencies, a wave of departures and a rebuilt market of coastal specialists. As of late 2026 rates are easing at some companies and 17 new insurers have entered since 2024, but premiums remain high and the state's rules on deductibles and nonrenewal are changing.

What broke the market

Hurricane Laura came ashore at Cameron on August 27, 2020 with 150 mph winds, the strongest hurricane to strike southwest Louisiana on record according to the National Weather Service. Delta and Zeta followed that season, and Ida struck in August 2021. Together they produced what the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) describes as a record 11 insurer insolvencies. LIGA borrowed $600 million in 2022 to pay claims and, as of December 2025, still assesses member insurers 1% of premium a year. A U.S. Senate Budget Committee staff report in December 2024 repeated a magazine claim that nearly 20 companies had pulled out of Louisiana in two years, and ranked Louisiana second in the country for 2023 nonrenewals at 1.80% of policies, up 267% from 2018. (That "20 companies" line is a secondary citation in the report, so treat it as an estimate.)

Hurricanes were only part of it. Reinsurance costs spiked, litigation and rebuilding costs rose, and insurers that had grown quickly on thin capital failed. For how reinsurance feeds your bill, see reinsurance costs and your premium.

Who writes homes in Louisiana now

Louisianans paid $3.47 billion in homeowners premiums in 2025, according to the NAIC's market share report. The top of the market is concentrated.

State Farm and Allstate together write about 37%. SafePoint took over the policies of three failed Louisiana insurers in 2021 and 2022. SageSure-managed carriers and Allied Trust are coastal specialists. A July 2026 Triple-I brief counted 17 new homeowners insurers entering Louisiana since 2024 and reported that homeowners premium rate growth slowed to 4.6% in 2025 from 10.4% in 2023, with nine rate decreases filed in 2025, the most since 2020. In December 2025 the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) approved a 7.5% average decrease for SageSure's SURE and Elevate exchanges, citing lower reinsurance costs, and a 9.7% average increase for State Farm, citing hurricane modeling (Artemis, December 11, 2025). One state, many directions: do not assume your renewal will fall.

Louisiana Citizens

Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has run the state's FAIR Plan and Coastal Plan since January 1, 2004. It is a nonprofit insurer of last resort, and by law its rates are set at least 10% above the higher of an actuarially justified rate or the highest rate charged by major private insurers in each parish (R.S. 22:2303). In practice that means it costs more on purpose, so that private insurers can compete for the business.

• Rates. Personal lines rates rose 3.1% statewide on January 1, 2026: +3.4% in the FAIR Plan and -2.5% in the Coastal Plan.
• Assessment ended. The 1.36% emergency assessment on Louisiana property policies, which repaid bonds issued after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, stopped on April 1, 2025.
• Depopulation. Private insurers take policies out in rounds, with the next on December 1, 2026 and April 1, 2027. Louisiana Citizens lets you opt out and stay; see depopulation and takeout offers from state insurers of last resort.
• Reinsurance. Citizens bought $1,863.3 million of storm coverage for June 2025 to May 2026, described in its financial report as one-in-122-year protection.

Louisiana Citizens does not publish a policies-in-force figure that we could verify, so there is no comparable "shrinking" statistic as there is for Florida's Citizens. Our Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance explained guide covers eligibility, coverage and how to move back to a private policy.

Rules that changed

Louisiana has rewritten parts of its homeowners law since the storms. These are the changes most likely to matter to your policy.

1. Named-storm and hurricane deductibles. Insurers may use separate named-storm, hurricane and wind/hail deductibles, as a percentage or a dollar amount (R.S. 22:1337). The named-storm or hurricane deductible applies once per calendar year on homeowners policies; for a second storm, the insurer applies the greater of the remaining storm deductible or your all-other-perils deductible. New policies since January 1, 2023 come with a separate deductible form you sign.
2. Raising deductibles. Act 9 of 2024 removed the bar on raising deductibles on homeowners policies in force more than three years, effective January 1, 2025. A policy may still not apply more than one deductible to a single incident.
3. The three-year rule. A homeowners policy in force and renewed for more than three years can be nonrenewed only for listed reasons, such as nonpayment, fraud, a material change in risk, or two or more claims (not counting acts of God) within three years. The protection does not apply to policies issued after August 1, 2024, and insurers may nonrenew up to 5% of older policies a year under a filed plan (R.S. 22:1265).
4. Nonrenewal notice. From July 1, 2026 an insurer must give 60 days' written notice of nonrenewal, stating the cause; it was 30 days (Act 182 of 2025).
5. FORTIFIED discounts. Since August 1, 2023, insurers must give an actuarially justified discount to homes built or retrofitted to IBHS FORTIFIED standards. LDI's July 2026 report lists filed FORTIFIED Roof discounts such as 25% to 30% at several companies, mostly applied to the wind and hail portion of the premium. The Louisiana Fortify Homes Program grants up to $10,000 for a FORTIFIED Roof on a homesteaded home. See The FORTIFIED Home standard and insurance discounts.

A worked example

Say your dwelling limit is $300,000 and your policy carries a 5% named-storm deductible. A tropical storm that damages your roof leaves you paying the first $15,000 yourself. If you had a 2% deductible, it would be $6,000, and the premium would typically be higher. The decision is whether you can fund $15,000 in cash this season. The hurricane and percentage deductible calculator runs the math, and hurricane and named-storm deductibles explained covers how named-storm triggers work.

Claims clocks

Louisiana's claims statute (R.S. 22:1892) requires an insurer to begin adjusting a property claim within 14 days of notice, or 30 days after a declared catastrophe, and to make a written settlement offer within 30 days of satisfactory proof of loss. Payment is due within 30 days (60 for a catastrophic residential loss). An insurer whose failure to pay is arbitrary, capricious or without probable cause owes a penalty of 50% of the amount due plus attorney fees, although after a catastrophe you must first send a 60-day cure-period notice. Your policy cannot give you less than 24 months from the loss to sue on a first-party property claim. After a declared named-storm emergency, LDI's Hurricane Mediation Program can mediate residential disputes of up to $150,000, with the insurer paying.

If you are shopping this year

1. Read your current declarations page for the named-storm or hurricane deductible and dollar amount.
2. Request quotes from an independent agent who places with both national and coastal specialists, and ask whether each carrier is an admitted company covered by LIGA.
3. Ask for your FORTIFIED, roof-deck and opening-protection credits by name.
4. Keep flood in the picture. FEMA counted 394,123 NFIP policies in Louisiana as of September 30, 2026, down 23,984 in a year. A homeowners policy excludes flood and storm surge.
5. If you land in Citizens, check every renewal for private offers. The nonrenewal action plan has the steps if you are dropped.

Key takeaways

• Louisiana's average HO-3 premium was $3,027 for 2023, the highest in the country, after hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and Ida and 11 insurer insolvencies.
• The market is recovering: 17 new insurers since 2024, some rate decreases, and the end of Citizens' emergency assessment on April 1, 2025. But State Farm, the largest writer, received a 9.7% average increase approved in December 2025.
• Your named-storm deductible can be a percentage, applies once a year, and can be raised at renewal under Act 9 of 2024.
• From July 1, 2026 you get 60 days' notice of nonrenewal with a stated cause.