Louisiana’s financial incentive program to attract more insurance companies to the state has ended with only two companies applying for the grants.  Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said four or five companies had been expected to apply but one company’s application was rejected because it didn’t meet the program’s requirements and two other applications failed to materialize.  State lawmakers allocated $100 million for the grants, but the state’s insurance department expects to award only $39 million and return the remainder to the state.  Donelon said the program is a success, and it helped draw attention to the state’s efforts to improve the insurance climate through the abolishment of the state’s Insurance Rating Commission and the establishment of a statewide building code.

Insurance Program Wraps Up (New Orleans Times-Picayune 3/8/08)

March 17, 2008