Homeowners Insurance in LA
 

I am shopping for a new homeowner insurance agency and can't find anyone writing in Louisiana. I have America First but want to shop rates. Does anyone have any ideas? I was told by Farm Bureau that they would write it but would exclude wind damage and I would have to buy that from LA Citizens (which I was told was expensive).

Any suggestions?

I have farm bureau and its exactly like they told you, but I dont remember it being that expensive, I also did not shop around I already deal with farm bureau

It's hard to find it during hurricane season. Many of them stop writing until it's over

go with safeco for your homeowners and auto . they arnt big in la so they didnt get hammered with all the hurricane claims ect..

I got state farm......no one could even come close on the price. They don't deal in citizens at all!!! My house is 1100 a year. You get a discount if you insure your car thru them too.......

Forgot.......EVERY other insurance was over 2000 a year......every one of them was involved with citizens

Wrong Dink, every agent in Louisiana has a contract with La Citizens even State Farm. I believe SF just recieved a 22% increase on their HO policies so get ready for it.

The only when a storm is in the gulf do they shut down. All other times they can bind coverage at will. Flood insurance has a 30 day wait if it is not purchased as part of a loan process.

I specifically asked about it and they said no.......that's the main reason I went with them......the price reflects it too.......la citizens is high high!! I switched to them 2 ygs ago......

I was informed by our insurance company last year we had to get a Hail and Wind policy for our house. It had to go through Citizens, there was no other choice. Louisiana is terrible about insurance. And we have an Insurance Commisioner, what the hell does he do? It is a racket.

Most of them wind up in prison in our great state!:pissed:

Your price has nothing to do with whether or not a company writes through LAC. SF and others all use LAC to place business that they cannot write thorugh standard companies, it is a resource no different than you selling a low end safe when that is all there is money for but the client needs a safe.

The assessement everyone in Louisiana pays on their homeowners insurance is debt payment from Rita/Katrina.

just talked to the wife we pay bout 1800$ year total with farm bureau and the la citizens, just citizens is bout 1200$ a year.

i had state farm last year and my premium went from 1450 to 1950 in july, i said hell no and went with liberty mutual and i'm back at the 1450 range. 500.00 in one year that is rediculous.

Mine jumped like that two years in a row with Farm Bureau(sp?). I switched to Foremost and they were cheaper but, now, they just jumped $400/yr with no claims filed! Looking into State Farm right now and they are looking at $1600/yr. That's $600/yr less than Foremost with more coverage! I will likely have to do this in another two years again!:pissed::pissed:

Insurance is a pain in the @$$!!!:pissed::pissed::pissed:

my wife, who works for state farm, said the same thing. Our insurance on my house that i just sold was going to go up 400 bucks a year with state farm but the coverage and service has been great. Maybe thats because i keep my service girl happy most nights :work:.

i shopped prices a few weeks ago
 

i have america first also and i was attempting to get rid of them.

i found that no one could provide the same coverage for the price - i'm lucky enough that i don't have a "named storm" or wind deductible or whatever its called, i had the policy before katrina and rita.

i shopped state farm and all state...they could match price but not amount of coverage - they also require a "named storm" deductible.

i've had la citizens on a previous home and never had problems other than the CEO or VP being on trial for corruption...but i din't inquire about them this time.

State Farm claims a "named storm" deductible but, if you switch your vehicle over too, that goes away and you only have the usual 2% ded. You also get a 20% discount for switching your vehicle over.

All in all, I swear they just try to run you in circles to keep you confused!

i tell my wife this all the time, then when i go to her state farm banquets and they talk about how good as a company they did that year but how they are losing money blah blah blah and we are eating steaks at lauberge...really must be hurting

Guess you have her fill out a Satisfaction Questionaire:*****:

Here is the straight skinny on insurance; we work off of loss ratios.

Money paid in premium versus Money paid in claims. If your losses are greater than premium paid in, look to get dropped. The longer you stay at one company, the higher your premium to loss ratio is and you become an asset instead of a liability to the company. We all take care of our better customers and insurance companies are no different. Yes, there are some $hit companies out there but they are the minority. Find an agent you can trust and stick with them for the long haul and you will be further ahead in the long run.;)

Do insurance companies give lower rates for steel roofs? My roof (steel) has gone thru 3 hurricanes and has come away unscathed. My neighbor who has shingles is on his 3rd shingle roof @ about $6000/pop. I know I have a lower fire risk due to fireplace embers and damage from hailstorms also.

Some do some don't, some will not write them at all(I know, seems Stupid). Agents are at the mercy of underwriters (Professional No People)who live inside of a BOX:pissed:! Unfortunatley, I don't make the rules and it would be scary if I did.;) Your neighbor is still on the hook for atleast 2% wind deductible if not more.

My sisters pay $5000 per year in Cameron and Creole for homeowners, wind and flood
insurance. All 3 insurances have to be bought from 3 different companies.
I pay ~$900 per year for homeowners on a 2000 sq. ft. house south of I-210. It was
$660 per year 10 years ago. Allstate.
I also pay $300 per year for flood, but it is not required. After Rita, I thought it might
be a good idea to get it. Didn't flood for Ike either.
I had a $1000 deductible when Rita hit. After that, Allstate went to 5% for named
storms.

Is the citizens regional? I know down the bayou there is no other choice.......but I'm standing by my original statement........my state farm agent told me they have NO deaalings where citizens is involved........again, every other agent that I talked to while shopping around was involved with citizens when I asked them and the yearly bill was almost double..........

And yes, my named storm deductible is 2% b/c I have my vehicles insured with them as well.......

This is true. Farm Bureau treated us like royalty post Katrina. I have two buddies that are insured with Farm Bureau...not so good.

ive been with farm bureau since my first viehicle and now have my house with them and have no complaints...dont plan on changing companies just to save a few hundred in a year

I had State Farm for car insurance since I was 15 years old. I chunked them after
the way they treated my family after Rita.

Find a good agent that you know and can trust. You wont have any problems. I have been with State Farm for over twenty years, and my whole family has also. I have had to make claims a few times and let my agent go to bat for me, and he always gets the job done. Also I have no LA CITIZENS on my policies. :)

What I said, your agent is the person you should complain to if satisfaction is not reached on a claim. If he/she doesn't have the mental capacity to help find another agent!

My whole family had the same agent. My policies were 20 years old, my older sisters and
my dads were for longer than that. He is no longer living, but his agency is still going.
He would not help in any way. He said it was out of his hands. The adjusters did their
thing, my dad asked for them to check it out again, so they did. Gave a little more $$$,
but wouldn't pay the amount of damage for wind. Even though wind was supposed to
be covered. My dad and my little sister had to hire a lawyer to get their money.

When you hire a contractor ask them if they have assignment of proceeds policies. This basically allows the contractor to go after the insurance co. when they short-change the bill. This basically allows the contractor to represent you in court and keeps you from having to be there.

Short-changing is becoming evermore present in collision and this, while fairly new, seems to be working rather well for the shops. Raymond may have some insight on this and how it works in home claims situations.

I had State Farm for 2 cars and 2 boats. My house was with Allstate. I had good luck
with the cars in past years, it was only windshields. Homeowners from Allstate did me
good. I didn't have to go thru the agent. The agent I originally signed on with retired
or something. Allstate handed me off to another agent that I never have spoken with.

Been in the bidness since Feb 2000 as an agent, worked first Hurricane (Lili Oct 2002) thru Feb 2003. Probably worked 1000 claims and only had a handful of A-Holes. Had many give me food/water and even cry when I gave them their claim check. Met many good people during Katrina/Rita since our office was in Lafayette. Saw folks with nothing and those with $$$ and treated them all the same, with respect. Guess what I am trying to say is we should all live by the "Golden Rule". Insurance is a Service business but unfortunatley many times our customers have very little loyalty (Walmart Mentality). Those agents that go the extra mile for their clients often get the short end of the stick.

Sorry for your families bad luck Ray, please don't paint us all with a broad brush. Some of us actually put our people before our check in this business.

the veil lifted
 

lots of folks figured out what kind of coverage they had after katrina/rita/ike...

i always thought insurance was insurance...until rita and then i knew i had a pretty good policy.

i shopped it pretty hard when i refinanced my house a few weeks ago and i can't find anyone that could offer the same coverage for the same $

I know State Farm wasn't writing last year at all during the season, May of changed now.

What you are talking about is the insurance companies ability to increase their exposure. Look at it like you would be giving someone a loan, if you had a finite amount of money and lent it all out there would be none if I wanted a loan. All are under surplus requirements issued by the state and reinsurance company rules. Insurance companies are no different than Bookies in Las Vegas, playing the odds they get to keep the money rather than pay it out in claims.;)

Was going to stay out of this, but, being in the fire service for 35 years, the vast majority of the insurance companies out there are good to work with. Stay with a "brand name" company and you usually will not have any issues. The other thing is read and understand your policy

Anyone here tried The Hartford?

I just go with the lowest price...
 

I'm in the insurance business as well, just not P&C. Started out with Shelter 6 years ago here in Iberia Parish and saw my rates skyrocket after Katrina/Rita. They then placed a moratorium(at least here in our parish) on the insurance companies and no one else was offering coverage so you pretty much had to stick with what you had. New homebuyers were having to go with LACitizens as their only resort since no one else was writing. I don't advise anyone to switch to the LACitizens policy if they have another company already. Last year I was finally able to get a lower price from another company from Florida, ASI Lloyds. This year it was close in price to another I priced with Homewise homeowners, but I will stay with Lloyds since they are written by an agency here in town. My current storm/other deductible is only $2,500 for which I pay about $2,200 annually for my 2,650 sq. ft. house. I have my vehicles with the agency too in order to get the best rate. I was offered a policy from Liberty I believe for only $1,200-$1,300 but it only offered a 5% storm deductible which meant I would be paying the first $14,000 or so of damage which was too much risk to take on. State Farm is not writing at all in Iberia Parish anymore. The problem I have with all of these companies is that they have the automatic inflation adjustment which bumps your coverage up 3% or so every year. This usually adds $2-300 annually to your homeowners cost. I always call to see if we can get the coverage back down to keep my cost from increasing.

Have you tried The Hartford? We have them for our car and home insurance and they’ve been fairly good to deal with so far.

You said that already. :spineyes: