Louisiana’s insurance commissioner-elect, Republican Tim Temple, says he will not seek any additional funding for the Insure Louisiana Incentive Program, which offers matching funds to new and current property insurers to expand coverage in the state’s coastal areas.
Temple, who has two decades of experience in the insurance industry and currently heads the family-owned Temptan firm in Baton Rouge, became insurance commissioner-elect last month after his only opponent, Democrat R.D. “Rich” Weaver, withdrew from the race. The current commissioner, Jim Donelon, is not running for re-election.
Louisianans were told in January that the matching funds would be used to attract new insurance companies to the state, but the incentive money was only allocated to seven or eight insurers who were already doing business in Louisiana, Temple told the Louisiana Record. The funds did not actually lure new insurance companies to the state, he said.
“From that standpoint, I think it’s a failure,” he said. “We were told that (the companies receiving the grants) would start writing policies immediately, and I've seen very little evidence that that has occurred. … I would not be seeking additional funds for the incentive program.”
Temple, who will take office on Jan. 8 of next year, said Louisiana needs to be more on par with its neighboring Gulf states in terms of fixing its civil litigation climate.
“We need to be introspective and look at Louisiana and see where we are an outlier to some of those legal reforms,” he said.
Temple wants to work collaboratively with stakeholders in the insurance process, including insurers, their industry associations, plaintiffs’ attorneys and consumer advocates. Everyone should have a place at the table to find solutions and implement them, he said.
One positive step to improve Louisiana’s property insurance market is the Louisiana Fortified Home Program, a $30 million effort to provide homeowners with grants of up to $10,000 to retrofit roofs to what’s called the Fortified standard, so that they will be better able to withstand severe storms. The program gets under way on Oct. 1.
“If your roof stays on and your contents stay dry, you can get back into your home more quickly,” Temple said.
The commissioner-elect also said he would not impose a top-down approach to auto insurance reforms but would work cooperatively with the new governor who will be elected this year, new attorney general and legislative officials to find the drivers behind Louisiana having some of the highest auto insurance rates in the nation.
“My way of addressing the auto insurance premium crisis is by creating an atmosphere where more companies come back to Louisiana and offer auto insurance,” Temple said.
He also vowed to bring a predictable regulatory environment to the state while holding insurers accountable for their actions but being responsive to their needs as well.
“We’re all probably dealing with the worst insurance crisis that I’d say anyone alive has ever seen,” Temple said. “I want to be very proactive and not reactive."