Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple addressed attendees at the Petroleum Club in Morgan City on Monday, discussing the state’s ongoing insurance crisis and his plan to address it. Temple, who was elected in 2023 and has over two decades of experience in the insurance industry, emphasized the complexity of insurance and the importance of understanding the industry in order to effectively regulate it. Temple was invited to speak by the Atchafalaya Intracoastal Coalition.
“We’re facing the worst insurance crisis our state has ever seen,” Temple stated. “If it’s got the word insurance in it, and you’re buying it, it’s some of the highest premiums, the highest rates you’ve ever seen, we’ve ever seen in our state. And again, like I said, we’ve got to get it right.”
Temple highlighted the challenges the state has faced in recent years, including four major storms in a short period of time that resulted in 800,000 claims and $24 billion in payouts. “They collected two, paid out 24. Raise your hand if you can operate your business like that,” he noted, emphasizing the need for the state to work with the industry to attract capital and encourage companies to do business in Louisiana.
Despite the challenges, Temple expressed optimism about the future. “I do believe that our state has got, I mean, the best days are yet to come,” he said. “And I think that phrase gets overused a lot, but it gets overused a lot because it’s true.”
Temple discussed the recent legislative session, during which substantial property insurance reforms were passed. He credited a collaborative approach involving legislators, stakeholders, and industry professionals for the success. “We had everybody at the table before the session started,” he explained. “And we sat down, and we collectively agreed what the problems were, and for the most part, we agreed to what the solutions could be.”
The reforms are already showing signs of restoring confidence in the market, with three companies having filed applications to write property insurance in the state. “We’re on the right path,” Temple said. “We’re doing what needs to be done… This is a plan. It’s not hope.”
Temple pointed to neighboring Florida as an example of how meaningful reform can lead to positive change. After enacting substantial reforms following a crisis triggered by one hurricane, Florida is now seeing over 30 companies take rate decreases or impose no increases. “I think Louisiana can and should expect the same thing,” Temple said. “We’ve set the conditions so that insurance companies want to come back and do business in the state, and we’ll see that.”
Temple acknowledged that change takes time, but expressed confidence that the state is on the right path. “When you get more companies that want to come in, when you have three, five, ten, that’s when you’ll start seeing that downward pressure on premiums,” he said. “And that’s when you’ll see that affordability start to come back, and people talk about affordability in Louisiana again.”
In conclusion, Temple reiterated the importance of getting things right. “Insurance is the biggest hurdle for our state economy to grow and prosper,” he said. “So it’s important that we get it right. And so session started… We’ve been, we were in, today is 210 days on the job for me. I think we were in session 101 days, and we dealt with a lot of insurance reform.”