In A Flash

Insurance claim deadline for Hurricane Laura is Tuesday

By: Wesley Muller - February 22, 2021 3:54 pm

LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA – AUGUST 27: Latasha Myles and Howard Anderson stand in their living room where they were sitting when the roof blew off around 2:30am as Hurricane Laura passed through the area on August 27, 2020 in Lake Charles, Louisiana . The hurricane hit with powerful winds causing extensive damage to the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Tuesday, Feb. 23, marks the 180-day insurance claim deadline for Louisiana policyholders to file a proof of loss for any claims related to Hurricane Laura, and similar deadlines are approaching for hurricanes Delta and zeta.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon urged all property and casualty insurers to grant deadline extensions to property insurance policyholders who are still struggling with their insurance claims from the historic 2020 storm season. Nevertheless, even as Donelon urged insurance companies to work with policyholders, he encouraged consumers to be aware of the deadlines and strive to meet them.

“Although I encourage policyholders to file their claims with their insurers as soon as possible to begin the recovery process, I know the level of damage caused by the 2020 hurricanes makes it very difficult for people to gather all of the information and documentation they need to file a detailed proof of loss to support their claim,” Donelonn said in a press release Feb. 12. “I am requesting that insurers take into account the negative impact that multiple hurricanes within a short period of time have had on policyholders in their efforts to repair their property and lives and to show some mercy.”

Louisiana law states that when a catastrophic event occurs and civil officials declare a state of disaster or emergency pursuant to law, owners of property within the declaration area shall have not less than 180 days from the date of the event to submit a proof of loss with their insurer.

Policyholders should work to keep insurance companies aware of any issues such as material shortages, cost increases or difficulty finding a contractor that would make it harder to complete repairs on time, the commissioner said. Often a simple email to the insurance carrier letting them know of issues and asking for a specific extension may result in more time to complete repairs.

The deadline for Hurricane Delta is April 7.

The deadline for Hurricane Zeta is April 26.

For more details, read the Louisiana Department of Insurance press release.

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Wesley Muller

Wes Muller traces his journalism roots back to 1997 when, at age 13, he built and launched a hyper-local news website for his New Orleans neighborhood. In the following 22 years since then, he has worked as a journalist for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, the Sun Herald in Biloxi, WAFB-9News CBS in Baton Rouge, and the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. Much of his work has involved reporting on First Amendment issues and watchdog coverage of municipal and state government. He has received several honors and recognitions, including McClatchy's National President's Award, the Associated Press Freedom of Information Award, and the Daniel M. Phillips Freedom of Information Award from the Mississippi Press Association, among others. Muller is a New Orleans native, a Jesuit High School alumnus, a University of New Orleans alumnus, a veteran U.S. Army paratrooper, and an adjunct English teacher at Baton Rouge Community College. He lives in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, with his teenage son and his wife, who is also a journalist.