You Can’t Keep a Good State Down

Louisiana, Louisiana.
They’re tryin’ to wash us away, They’re tryin’ to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away, They’re tryin’ to wash us away

—Randy Newman, Louisiana 1927

Despite Randy Newman’s warning in this song from his 1974 album, Good Old Boys, “they” just can’t quite wash Louisiana away. The state seems to be on the verge of a renaissance, at least in the insurance market, with reforms and pro-active industry insiders working together for a better insurance climate.

There are many in Louisiana’s insurance industry pushing strong and hard to turn back the tide of companies leaving the state, especially in the area of personal lines. Insurance Commissioner J. Robert Wooley, who was elected to the commissioner’s post in November 2003 after having served as acting commissioner and then full commissioner when Jim Brown officially stepped down due to legal troubles, has pledged to reform the state’s regulatory system and to help bring new companies into Louisiana. Two of Louisiana’s agents associations, the Professional Insurance Agents of Louisiana and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Louisiana, have both stepped up to the plate with programs to entice companies to their state—not just for the food, for which it is justifiably famous—but also for the welcoming business environment. Even newly sworn in Governor Kathleen Blanco got into the act before her inauguration with a major effort—including a $33 million incentive—to persuade State Farm to not only keep its operations center in Monroe, but to move workers to Monroe from other states, as well.

Reforms, such as the Flex Band Rating System, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2004 and allows companies to modify rates up or down by 10 percent without prior approval of the Louisiana Insurance Rating Commission, are expected to provide incentives for companies to take a second look at the state. The legislature also created the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) last year as a holding company to operate the state’s residual market insurance programs, the FAIR and Coastal plans. Citizens’ charge is to alleviate some of the heavy assessment burdens the standard markets have to bear in relation to the FAIR and Coastal plans, and to make sure that the plans are properly funded and do not compete on price with the voluntary insurance market.

Find out more about what Louisiana is doing to let les bons temps roulez, business-wise at least, in “Mission Possible: Bringing Insurers Back to Louisiana,” which appears on page 82.

This edition of Insurance Journal is nothing if not big. It’s giant, in fact, due in large part to our first National Excess & Surplus Lines directory. Hopefully you can find a solution to every one of your market problems in the pages of this directory.

In the meantime, happy reading!

Stephanie Jones
Managing Editor
sjones@insurancejournal.com

Topics Louisiana Market