By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I
After years of rising premiums, Louisiana’s property/casualty insurance market posted its first broad rate relief this decade in 2025. A new Triple-I Issues Brief examines the drivers behind this shift and points to reforms needed to keep up the momentum.
Premium rates decreased statewide across all lines combined by an average of 0.4% in 2025, compared to consistent increases between 2021 and 2024. The sharpest turnaround came in private passenger auto, resulting in a statewide premium reduction of more than $340 million.
While homeowners insurance rates continued to rise, writers of the coverage are filing more rate decreases and fewer, less costly rate increases than in recent years, in part reflecting rising competition from the 17 insurers who have joined the state’s homeowners market since 2024.
Despite these improvements, combined ratio trends for homeowners’ insurers in the state underscore how much work remains. Though the line welcomed its fourth consecutive year of a combined ratio under 100 in 2025, hurricane-related losses caused the ratio to soar in 2020 and 2021, curbing full market recovery for decades to come. As such, the five-year average combined ratio in 2025 more than doubles the annual combined ratio to 130.5, representing a loss.
State lawmakers target cost drivers
Louisiana’s affordability challenges stem in part from a high rate of claims litigation, including a personal auto claims litigation rate more than twice the U.S. average. Bodily injury claims in the Pelican State are similarly disproportionate, at nearly double the U.S. average, as highlighted by Triple-I’s awareness campaign on the impacts of legal system abuse on Louisiana families and businesses.
A key player behind the litigation rate is misuse of assignment of benefits (AOB), or the practice by which policyholders sign over to a third party – a contractor, attorney, or public adjuster – their right to bill an insurance company directly for repairs or other services. Building on a broad AOB ban passed in 2023, Louisiana legislators recently enacted a law that includes claims for auto glass damage, a major source of fraud.
Based on model legislation from the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), the law is one of several introduced throughout the country, including in Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, and Utah.
Another May 2026 measure expanded funding and eligibility for the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program, which offers homeowners up to $10,000 grants to upgrade their roofs to standards for severe storm and hurricane resilience. Secured with $80 million for 2026, the program is now available to residents in parishes farther inland to help mitigate rising flood risk among non-coastal communities.
While these efforts are starting to bear fruit on insurance premiums, overall expected losses will need to be reduced for insurance affordability to further improve statewide. Continued reforms targeting excess litigation and fraud are essential to promoting an insurance market accessible to all consumers.
Learn More:
States Take the Lead on Third-Party Litigation Funding Reform
Legal System Abuse Awareness Campaign Spreads Across U.S.
Take Care in Addressing Homeowners’ Premiums, Bloomberg Cautions Policymakers
La. Auto Insurance Rates Benefit from Declines in Frequency, Severity