Declarations

No More Funds-Holding

“I have received numerous constituent complaints regarding a mortgage company holding onto funds for weeks while homeowners face emergency repairs that must be made quickly.”

—Oklahoma State Rep. Charles Ortega, Ortega, R-Altus, has filed a bill aimed at helping homeowners with insurance claim payments issued through mortgage companies. The legislation would give mortgage companies no more than 10 days to release an insurance claims check to the homeowner.

More Like a Business

“I’ve pledged to run government more like a business, and in business you try to make every dollar count. … Efficiency is the name of the game, because Oklahomans deserve fiscally responsible government.”

—Oklahoma’s top insurance regulator says the department spent nearly $675,000 less in 2011 than it did in 2010. For the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2011, the insurance department spent $11,160,855.28 compared to $11,833,228.01 in 2010, a total savings of $672,372.73 from year to year, according to Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak. He attributed the savings to efficiency efforts initiated by his administration upon taking office in January 2011.

Competition as Regulator

“The best regulator of cost is competition.”

—Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says increased competition in the homeowners insurance market in his state is helping to slow the rate of premium increases. Homeowners premiums in Louisiana are among the nation’s highest, but are rising much more slowly than they did in the first two years after Hurricane Katrina, new data from by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners show. The statewide average premium was $1,430 in 2009, the most recent year for which data is available. Louisiana has the third most expensive homeowners insurance market in the country.

Topics Louisiana Homeowners Oklahoma