The Best Homeowners Insurance in Louisiana for 2023 – NerdWallet

After a series of hurricanes in 2020 and 2021, Louisiana homeowners insurance rates have risen, and some insurers have even fled the state. The average cost of homeowners insurance in Louisiana is $2,675 per year, significantly above the national average of $1,820 per year.

However, you’ve still got options when it comes to finding quality coverage. Below are our picks for the best homeowners insurance in Louisiana, plus your cheapest options and a few important things to know.

Note: Due to underwriting practices and market volatility, some companies in this article may no longer write new policies in your area.

If you’re looking to buy homeowners insurance from a well-rated national brand, consider one of these insurers from NerdWallet’s list of the Best Homeowners Insurance Companies.

See more details about each company to help you decide which one is best for you.

As America’s largest insurer, State Farm stands out for its long list of coverage options. Its policies generally include extra dwelling coverage in case it costs more than expected to rebuild your home after a covered disaster. You may also be able to add coverage for things like identity theft, damage from backed-up drains and personal injury liability.

State Farm offers a free Ting device as a perk for home insurance policyholders. Ting is a smart plug that monitors your home’s electrical network to help prevent fires.

Chubb generally serves affluent policyholders with high-value homes, offering lofty coverage limits and plenty of perks. For example, the company covers water damage from backed-up sewers and drains, and pays to bring your home up to the latest building codes during reconstruction after a claim. (Many insurers charge more for these types of coverage.)

If you insure a secondary or seasonal home in Louisiana with Chubb, you can sign up for the company’s Property Manager service at no charge. With this service, a Chubb representative will inspect your home after a hurricane, report its condition to you, submit a claim on your behalf and help prevent further damage.

The Hanover gives homeowners lots of choices. You can opt for an auto/home package, a policy designed for high-value homes or a standalone policy for a standard house. You can further customize your policy with a range of coverage options for things like guaranteed replacement cost coverage, which will pay as much as it takes to rebuild your home after a disaster.

The Hanover sells policies exclusively through local independent agents. That means online quotes aren’t available, but you can get personal service to help you choose the right coverage.

Rhode Island-based Amica stands out for its customer service and broad range of coverage options. The company has drawn significantly fewer consumer complaints to state regulators than expected for an insurer of its size, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, or NAIC.

You can customize your policy with extra coverage above your dwelling limit, in case your house costs more to rebuild than expected. You may also want to add coverage for damage from water backups or recovery from identity theft.

Founded in 2016, Kin is an insurance startup that sells policies directly to consumers. Your policy will come with two deductibles (the amount of a claim you’re responsible for) — one for hurricane damage, and one for every other type of claim. You may want to add Kin’s flood insurance to your homeowners policy to make sure you’re fully covered for hurricanes. 

Kin offers discounts for things like windproofing your home, being a new homebuyer and having no history of claims.

USAA sells homeowners insurance to veterans, active military members and their families. If that description fits you, you may want to consider a USAA policy. That’s because the company’s homeowners insurance has certain features that other insurers may charge extra for.

For example, USAA automatically covers your personal belongings on a “replacement cost” basis. Many companies pay out only what your items are worth at the time of the claim, which means you may not get much for older items. USAA pays enough for you to buy brand-new replacements for your stuff.

The average annual cost of home insurance in Louisiana is $2,675. That’s 47% more than the national average of $1,820.

In most U.S. states, including Louisiana, many insurers use your credit-based insurance score to help set rates. Your insurance score is similar but not identical to your traditional credit score. 

In Louisiana, those with poor credit pay an average of $4,320 per year for homeowners insurance, according to NerdWallet’s rate analysis. That’s 61% more than those with good credit.

How much you pay for home insurance depends on where in Louisiana you live. For example, the average cost of homeowners insurance in New Orleans is $3,205 per year, while homeowners in Baton Rouge pay $2,445 per year, on average.

Here are the insurers we found with average annual rates below the Louisiana average of $2,675.

A wave of recent hurricanes, including Laura, Zeta and Delta in 2020 and Ida in 2021, has caused a crisis in Louisiana’s homeowners insurance market. The storms left billions of dollars in damage, driving more than a dozen insurance companies out of the state or into insolvency.

That’s left homeowners scrambling to find new coverage and often paying significantly more as the companies that remain raise their rates. Many homeowners have had to buy policies from Louisiana Citizens, the state’s insurer of last resort. By law, Citizens must charge more than private insurers, and it recently raised its rates by 63% on homeowners policies.

In addition to the lack of competition and the risk of insuring hurricane-prone homes, inflation is also contributing to Louisiana’s higher insurance premiums. With the price of labor and construction materials going up across the country, it costs more to rebuild a house after a claim, and insurers pass those costs along to their policyholders.

Because experts believe climate change is making hurricanes stronger, it will likely become increasingly expensive to insure a home located in the path of tropical storms. However, Louisiana’s legislature has taken steps to stabilize the market and bring down prices by funding a program to bring insurance companies back to the state.

Common natural disasters in Louisiana include hurricanes, tropical storms, thunderstorms, tornadoes and hail, all of which can damage your home. Here’s how to make sure you’ve got the right coverage.

Its location on the Gulf of Mexico makes Louisiana a prime target for hurricanes and tropical storms. Most homeowners insurance policies cover damage from wind but not flooding, so you may want to buy separate flood insurance. 

To check your flood risk, put your address into the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood maps or visit RiskFactor.com, a website from the nonprofit First Street Foundation.

In high-risk coastal areas, home insurance policies may not cover wind damage. If that’s the case for you, Louisiana Citizens may be your only option for coverage. It offers homeowners and wind-only policies to people who can’t find insurance anywhere else.

If your policy does cover wind damage, check whether it has a separate deductible for hurricanes or named storms. (A deductible is the amount of a claim you’re responsible for.) 

Many people choose a flat dollar amount such as $1,000 for their deductible, but a hurricane or named-storm deductible is often a percentage of your dwelling coverage limit. So if your home is insured for $200,000 and you have a 2% hurricane deductible, you’ll have to pay for the first $4,000 of hurricane damage.

Louisiana sees dozens of tornadoes each year. Because standard homeowners policies cover wind damage, most people don’t need to buy extra coverage. However, if you live in a coastal area at high risk for hurricanes and your insurer won’t cover wind, you won’t have tornado coverage either. Shop around or turn to Louisiana Citizens to make sure you’re covered.

Thunderstorms are common in Louisiana, especially in the warmer months, and some come with hail. Your homeowners policy will generally cover some, but not all potential thunderstorm damage.

Hail, lightning and wind are typically covered. So if hail dents a few shingles or wind blows a tree onto your garage, most homeowners insurance policies will pay for the damage, minus your deductible. (Again, one exception is for homeowners on the coast whose insurers won’t cover wind.)

However, if a thunderstorm brings heavy rain and flash flooding, you might not have coverage for the subsequent water damage. Instead, that would fall under flood insurance.

Got an insurance problem or question? The Louisiana Department of Insurance may be able to help. You can use the agency’s website to file a complaint about your insurer, learn the basics about your policy or look up insurance agents. You can call 800-259-5300 for live assistance.