The most common call we get starts the same way: nothing changed, so why did it go up?
It’s a fair question, and the honest answer is that most of what moved isn’t about you.
What’s actually happening
Carriers left the state. A run of hurricanes put several Louisiana property insurers into insolvency and pushed others to stop writing here. Fewer companies competing for your house means less pressure holding rates down.
Reinsurance got expensive. Your insurance company buys insurance too, for exactly the kind of event that hits a whole state at once. When the global reinsurance market repriced catastrophe risk, that cost landed in Louisiana premiums — and it lands hardest in the states with the most exposure.
Rebuilding costs more. A claim that would have paid $30,000 in 2019 pays substantially more now. Rates follow the cost of putting a house back.
Louisiana Citizens is a backstop, not a bargain. The state’s insurer of last resort exists so that a home nobody else will write can still be insured. State law requires it to sit above the private market on price, on purpose — it’s designed to be the option you leave, not the option you settle into. If you were placed there during the hard years, it is worth having someone re-shop you every single renewal.
What you can still control
Not everything is out of your hands.
Bundle. Home and auto with the same carrier is usually the largest single discount available to a household. If they’re split across two companies, that’s often the first several hundred dollars.
Raise the all-other-perils deductible, not the named-storm one. Going from $1,000 to $2,500 on the everyday deductible saves real premium and only costs you on the small claims you probably shouldn’t file anyway. Raising the hurricane percentage is a much bigger bet — see your wind and hail deductible.
Document the updates. Roof, plumbing, electrical, HVAC. An older house with a new roof and updated systems prices very differently from an older house on paper. Nobody applies that credit if nobody knows.
Fortify. A FORTIFIED roof with certification earns a required discount and opens up carriers who’d otherwise pass. It’s a capital expense with an insurance return.
Ask about every credit. Water shutoff devices, monitored alarms, claims-free history, paid-in-full, autopay, senior, professional and alumni affiliations. Individually small. Together, not.
Check your dwelling limit is right, not just high. You should insure to the cost of rebuilding. Insuring well above that is money spent on coverage that will never pay — the carrier isn’t going to hand you more than it costs to rebuild the house.
What not to do
Don’t drop liability to save money. Bodily injury limits are the cheapest coverage on the policy per dollar of protection, and the one that stands between a bad afternoon and your savings. Cut the deductible exposure before you ever cut the limits.
Don’t go bare on a paid-off house. No mortgage company is requiring it, which is exactly why people do it. It’s the largest asset most families own.
Don’t assume last year’s shopping is still valid. The market moves fast enough now that a carrier who was uncompetitive in 2025 may be the best rate available today. This is the entire argument for using an independent agency: we run the market again every renewal, and you don’t have to remember to ask.
If your renewal came in higher than you expected, send it to us. If your current policy is still the best deal, that’s what we’ll tell you — that answer costs you nothing and it’s how we’d want to be treated.
This is general information about how coverage typically works in Louisiana, not advice about your specific policy. Policy language, carrier practice, and state law all change, and yours may differ from what's described here. Your policy and its endorsements are the contract. For an answer that applies to you, send us your declarations page or call (225) 347-4185.Red Stick Insurance Agency · Louisiana licence #1260833 · NPN 22128563.