Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has announced that beginning March 31 insurers in the state will have until the end of the year to file rates that give discounts to homeowners who build their homes to stricter construction standards or retrofit them to make them more hurricane and storm resistant.

The requirement was part of an act approved last year by the Louisiana Legislature. Insurance Department spokeswoman Amy Whittington said the new regulations don't set a specific amount by which an insurer must discount its rates but that it must be “actuarially justified.” Donelon said he will ask insurers that he believes aren’t providing adequate discounts to review their rates and give qualified homeowners a larger break on their premiums.  Inspection and certification of new or retrofitted homes must be performed by a qualified professional who is a building code enforcement officer, registered architect, engineer or qualified third-party provider approved by the state, Whittington said.

Policy Breaks On the Way for La. Homeowners (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 1/19/08)

January 29, 2008