NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — “I’m not the only one scared about it – I think everyone else is scared about not having the coverage,” those were the words of Sofia Dheming, a homeowner impacted by Lighthouse Excalibur after they recently folded coverage in Louisiana.
She’s one of the thousands in the state after Lighthouse, Maison and Southern Fidelity all pulled out with hurricane season just getting underway.
“It’s going to be a dilemma finding insurance on time,” said Dheming.
As a realtor as well, she says the impacts are being felt on the other side too.
“Homeowners insurance is going up, we have hurricane season, we have the recession,” she said as she began pleading with the state’s insurance commissioner for a fix.
“He needs to step in and he needs to help us out,” she said.
“The destructive hurricane season of the past two years has created a turbulent homeowners market,” said Commission Jim Donelon.
After two devastating hurricane seasons, he says companies are tapping out. He urges those impacted to find a new policy, adding if you can’t find a private sector, the state’s insurer Louisiana Citizen’s, has been averaging 2,800 inquiries a day and writes over 750 of them.
“I have full confidence it is doing everything it can to help policyholders navigate the claims process,” he said, as he urges homeowners to hold on.
“We will get through this,” said Donelon.
If you don’t have an agent you can head over to ldi.la.gov to find one.
Policies for Maison and Lighthouse will be canceled June 30th.
For Southern Fidelity, it’s July 15th.
The 30 day rule before policies take effect is being waived if your policy has been canceled.
All you have to do it provide the letter saying your company went into recievership.