As we move into the 2026 hurricane season along the Gulf (of Mexico) coast, it seems a good time to see how California, as opposed to Louisiana’s politicians, actually stand up to insurance companies who fail in their promise to be a good neighbor.
LouisianaVoice has, on multiple occasions, attempted to alert readers as to how insurance companies deliberately SABOTAGED POLICYHOLDERS on hurricane damage claims as part of their corporate strategy to “ DELAY, DENY, DEFEND.”
Of course, that strategy of shortchanging policyholders didn’t just apply to hurricanes. It was also employed to the practice of [dis]honoring claims on VEHICLE REPAIRS.
And what did Louisiana do about all that? Well, last December, Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple did APPROVE a 5.9 percent decrease on State Farm personal auto insurance policies while at the same time approving a 9.7 percent increase for the company’s homeowner rates.
As a refresher, in case you need it, we have this report of what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:
Less than a week following the devastation of Katrina, Nationwide, on September 4, 2005, instructed its claims adjusters that “if loss is caused by both flood and wind, there is no coverage,” according to Mississippi Gulf Coast U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor.
Nine days later, on September 13, Taylor said State Farm instructed its adjusters that “where wind acts concurrently with flooding to cause damage to the insured property, coverage for the loss exists only under flood coverage.”
On-site damage assessment by engineer Jerome Quintero of Rimkus Consulting Group, contracted by Allstate to handle claims, said there was “insufficient physical evidence to determine the proportion of wind versus storm surge that destroyed (a) structure.”
Less than a week following the devastation of Katrina, Nationwide, on September 4, 2005, instructed its claims adjusters that “if loss is caused by both flood and wind, there is no coverage,” according to Mississippi Gulf Coast U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor.
Nine days later, on September 13, Taylor said State Farm instructed its adjusters that “where wind acts concurrently with flooding to cause damage to the insured property, coverage for the loss exists only under flood coverage.”
On-site damage assessment by engineer Jerome Quintero of Rimkus Consulting Group, contracted by Allstate to handle claims, said there was “insufficient physical evidence to determine the proportion of wind versus storm surge that destroyed (a) structure.”
That was in June 2006. But on November 4, Quintero’s conclusion of “insufficient physical evidence” was altered to read “Storm surge and waves destroyed the residence” by Rimkus staff who never visited the site. Quintero’s name was signed to the revised report without his knowledge, Taylor said.
So, in just those three examples, we have Nationwide, State Farm and Allstate implicitly telling their adjusters to blame Hurricane Katrina’s damage on water alone, thereby passing an inflated $23 billion bill on to American taxpayers.
Things were no better for the folks in Southwest Louisiana following Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020 and 2021. Five and six years after the fact, homeowners are still fighting with their insurance companies—and even with the LOUISIANA INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION created in 1970 as a safety net for policyholders left high and dry, so to speak.
Fast forward to those devastating wildfires in California last year and we learn that Louisianans weren’t the only victims of mishandled claims. In about half of the 220 sample claims reviewed, regulators in that state found 398 violations.
State Farm handled about a third of the 11,300 residential claims filed as a result of the fires destroying more than 18,000 structures and killing 31 people.
Because of that, California regulators are actually considering SUSPENDING STATE FARM’S LICENSE to do business in that state.
So, by comparison, California is attempting to bar State Farm from doing business there because of claims mishandling while Louisiana approves a hefty homeowners rate increase.
To paraphrase what someone once said, the more things change in Louisiana, the more they stay the same.
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