NEW ORLEANS — Thousands of policyholders are on the verge of losing their homeowners insurance this month as three Louisiana insurance companies are shutting down over the next month.
Lighthouse Excalibur Insurance Company sent out a letter to policy holders stating that it is to be placed in liquidation, and that all Louisiana LEX policies will be cancelled June 30. That affects 30,000 residents.
Southern Fidelity is also shutting down and leaving nearly 40,000 customers looking for a policy. They are cancelling all claims on July 15.
In addition, Maison is canceling all Louisiana policies on June 30. This is an important distinction because Maison policyholders with open claims need to contact Maison, not LIGA, for help with those claims.
With hurricane season upon us, the shutdowns sent many people in a panic.
They're left to figure out what they are going to do when it comes to their homeowners insurance.
Local insurance agencies are now flooded with calls from residents who are trying to figure out their next steps.
"We're getting an influx of panic, worry, and distress because their company is cancelling. So you're talking about being in hurricane season, with a company telling you that if anything happens between now and June 30th they can't pay you. Now we're getting our customers calling us, and an influx of other customers calling from other agents because we have a limited amount of carriers. There's not a lot of carriers for people to go to," said Trenise Pittman, owner and agent of Value Insurance Agency.
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said that the state's insurer of last resort, Citizens Insurance, can pick up people who need insurance, but he emphasized that there are still other options.
He said that as tough as this year has been, there were many more people who lost insurance and had to move to Citizens insurance after Hurricane Katrina.
If you have a Lighthouse policy, please contact the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) at (225) 277-7151 or via email to LighthouseLIGA@legionclaims.com
LIGA is servicing open Lighthouse claims and will also service any new claims made by Lighthouse policyholders until the policies are canceled on June 22. LIGA will service those open claims until the claims are closed.