Since July 1, 2026 a Louisiana insurer must give at least 60 days' written notice of a non-renewal and state the cause. The old three-year rule no longer covers policies issued after August 1, 2024. A named-storm deductible is applied once per calendar year. A FORTIFIED roof earns a discount by statute. Louisiana Citizens is the last resort and is priced above the market on purpose. Flood is a separate policy.
The notice: sixty days, with the cause
Under Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:1335, as amended by Act 182 of 2025, an insurer may not decline to renew a homeowners policy unless it has mailed or delivered written notice at least sixty days before the policy expires, and the notice must include the cause. That version took effect on July 1, 2026; before then the period was thirty days. If the notice goes out late, coverage stays in force until sixty days after it was mailed or delivered. No notice is required when the insurer, or another company in the same group, has offered a renewal.
Separately, R.S. 22:1265 lets you ask in writing for the reasons for a cancellation or refusal to renew within six months, and the insurer must answer in writing. The same section says a non-renewal based on an inadequate rate is allowed only after the insurer has asked the Commissioner for actuarially justified rate relief and been refused. My page on Louisiana non-renewal rules covers the steps.
What is left of the three-year rule
For years Louisiana had one of the strongest renewal protections in the country. R.S. 22:1265(D) still reads that an insurer shall not cancel or fail to renew a homeowners policy that has been in effect and renewed for more than three years, except for non-payment, fraud, a material change in the risk, two or more claims within three years, or danger to the insurer's solvency. Losses from an act of God do not count toward the two claims, and a change of deductible at renewal is not a non-renewal.
Act 9 of 2024 cut that back in two ways, and both are in the statute now:
- Newer policiesSubsection K says the three-year rule does not apply to any policy issued after August 1, 2024.
- Older policiesSubsection L says that for policies in place at least three years on or before August 1, 2024, an insurer that files a plan with the Commissioner may non-renew up to five percent of those policies per calendar year for any reason, and the Commissioner may approve more on request.
So the first thing I check on a New Orleans notice is the original issue date. A policy first written in 2019 still has most of the old protection; one written in 2025 has the sixty-day notice and the stated cause, and little else.
Named-storm deductibles: once per calendar year
R.S. 22:1337 defines a named storm as a storm system declared a named storm by the National Hurricane Center, and a hurricane the same way. It does not use a wind-speed or landfall test. A separate deductible may be a percentage of the insured value of the home or a flat amount, and it includes hurricane, named-storm and wind and hail deductibles.
The rule that matters in a busy year: a named-storm or hurricane deductible is applied on an annual basis to all such losses during the calendar year. If a second named storm damages the home in the same year, the insurer may apply only whatever is left of the separate deductible or the ordinary all-perils deductible, whichever is greater. People call this the one-deductible-per-season rule, but the statute counts by calendar year, and it lets insurers require you to keep receipts and records of the first loss. Keep them. R.S. 22:1265 adds that no homeowners policy may apply more than one deductible to a loss from a single incident.
For new policies effective after January 1, 2023 the insurer must give you a separate form listing each storm deductible as a percentage, an amount, or both, and ask you to sign it. I read that form before the premium, since a low price with a five percent named-storm deductible is a different product from the one you had.
FORTIFIED roofs and the Fortify Homes grant
R.S. 22:1483 requires every insurer that files rates with the Commissioner to give an actuarially justified discount, credit or deductible adjustment to an owner who builds or retrofits to the FORTIFIED standards of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. The home has to be certified after inspection by an Institute-certified evaluator, the owner presents the certificate to the insurer, and the discount applies only to policies that include wind coverage. The same section requires discounts for listed wind-mitigation work such as roof deck attachment, secondary water barriers and opening protection. The Department of Insurance publishes the filed FORTIFIED Roof discounts each year and notes that most insurers apply them to the wind and hail part of the premium.
The Louisiana Fortify Homes Program pays toward the roof itself. Under the Department's rules, grants are awarded by lottery, subject to funding. The home must be a residence with a homestead exemption, not a condominium or mobile home, in good repair unless damaged by wind or hail, with a wind policy in force, and with a flood policy if it is in a Special Flood Hazard Area. The owner pays for the evaluator and permits, gets bids from at least three approved contractors, and has ninety days to finish; the grant is paid to the contractor after the certificate is issued. More is on the Fortify Homes page.
Louisiana Citizens: last resort, priced above the market
Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is the state's residual insurer. Under R.S. 22:2302, anyone with an insurable interest who has been denied coverage by one or more insurers authorized in Louisiana may apply, and the application must name the insurers that said no. If Citizens itself refuses an insurable property, you can appeal to the Commissioner. The Department's homeowners guide adds that Citizens also sells wind and hail coverage for homes whose regular policy excludes it.
- The priceR.S. 22:2303 says its plans are not intended to compete with the voluntary market, and sets its rates at least ten percent above the higher of the actuarially justified rate or the highest rate among the larger insurers in the parish. An exception running through December 31, 2027 applies only where the Commissioner has ruled a market noncompetitive.
- DepopulationCitizens transfers selected policies to private insurers under R.S. 22:2314. As of November 2026 it is planning its twenty-fifth round, with an assumption date of April 1, 2027.
- Shopping outEvery Citizens policy comes with a disclosure telling you how to find private insurers that may write the home.
I treat Citizens as a bridge. Admitted insurers come first, then surplus lines, and Citizens when both say no, with a note in the file to shop it again before each renewal. The longer explanation is on the Louisiana Citizens page.
Ida, Katrina, and why flood is its own policy
Hurricane Ida made landfall at Port Fourchon on August 29, 2021 as a category 4 hurricane. The National Hurricane Center's report says all power was lost in Jefferson Parish, helped by the collapse of a large transmission tower along the Mississippi River west of New Orleans, and that thousands of buildings in southeastern Louisiana were damaged. That was a wind event for the city, and it is the loss behind many of today's roof questions.
Katrina was the other kind. It came ashore near Buras on August 29, 2005 at the upper end of category 3; floodwalls and levees along the Industrial Canal, the London Avenue Canal and the 17th Street Canal were breached, and about eighty percent of the city flooded, in places to about twenty feet. The Department of Insurance says flatly that homeowners policies do not cover damage due to floods, that a flood policy may take thirty days to go into effect, and that most companies suspend sales when a storm is approaching. I quote flood insurance with the home policy, and private excess flood where the federal program's limit is too low for the house.
What I need to quote
The address, the notice, and the current declarations page with the deductible form. Then: the date the policy was first issued, roof material and the year it was installed, whether there is a FORTIFIED certificate or a wind-mitigation inspection, whether the house is raised or on a slab, claims in the last five years with the cause of each, any open Ida or later claim, the flood policy if there is one, and the date coverage must start.
Common questions
Who insures a home in New Orleans after a non-renewal?
Other admitted insurers first, then surplus lines insurers, then Louisiana Citizens for owners who have been denied by at least one authorized insurer. Which one fits depends mostly on the roof, the claims history and the wind exposure.
How much notice must a Louisiana insurer give before non-renewing a homeowners policy?
At least sixty days before expiration, in writing, with the cause stated, under R.S. 22:1335 as in effect since July 1, 2026. If the notice is late, coverage continues until sixty days after it is mailed or delivered.
Does Louisiana's three-year rule still protect my policy?
Only if the policy was issued on or before August 1, 2024 and has been renewed for more than three years. Even then, an insurer that files a plan with the Commissioner may non-renew up to five percent of those policies a year.
Do I pay the named-storm deductible twice if two hurricanes hit in one year?
No. Under R.S. 22:1337 the separate deductible applies once per calendar year; for a later storm the insurer may apply the unused remainder or the all-perils deductible, whichever is greater.
Why is Louisiana Citizens more expensive than a private insurer?
By law. R.S. 22:2303 sets its rates at least ten percent above the higher of the actuarial rate or the highest rate among the larger insurers in the parish, so that it stays a last resort.
Does a FORTIFIED roof lower home insurance in New Orleans?
Louisiana law requires insurers that file rates to give an actuarially justified discount for a certified FORTIFIED home on policies that include wind coverage. The size differs by insurer, and the Department of Insurance publishes the filed discounts each year.
Does my New Orleans homeowners policy cover flooding?
No. Flood needs a separate policy from the National Flood Insurance Program or a private insurer, and it may take thirty days to take effect.
General information about home insurance in New Orleans and southeast Louisiana as of November 2026, not legal advice. Louisiana Revised Statutes sections, Department of Insurance rules, Louisiana Citizens eligibility and rates, Fortify Homes funding and flood maps change; your policy wording controls what is covered. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.