Louisiana homeowners paid the third-highest home insurance rates in 2006, while Mississippi was hit with the sixth-highest average bill for coverage, according to a report by a national group of state insurance regulators.
Although the report is the first since hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck in 2005, leaving behind billions of dollars in property damage, one regulator said the full effect of storm-related rate increases would not be shown until next year’s report by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Still, by national comparisons, homeowners were forking out plenty in 2006 to obtain coverage. Louisiana’s average bill was $1,257 – exceeded only by Texas and Florida – while Mississippi owners paid an average of $998 for a year’s worth of coverage.