I am a New Orleans homeowner, currently going through my house insurance renewal and a reroofing.
The insurance premium offered for my property is now close to the cost of redoing my roof. And the rebate for a fortified roof is truly laughable.
I know we like our Carnival, but this masquerade must stop.
The social contract that bonds citizens and private house insurance is broken.
If I were to save that premium every year and invest it in a new roof, enhancing the foundations, etc., this would have a much better effect on protecting my house against storm damage and at a lower cost.
Those insurance premiums are an aberration. They de-incentivize homeowners from actually investing in protecting their property.
With such rates, the only incentive to have home insurance is to protect it against a major catastrophe like what happened in 2005. And, even then, the federal government had to intervene.
If I was not required to have insurance by my mortgage lender, I would be better off saving that money.
Homeowners’ insurance has become a tax on people who are not wealthy enough to own their homes in full.
It’s time we accept that Citizens, the state-run insurance plan, is the only acceptable solution.
We need to invest in a citizen-owned fund that makes sure our money is invested specifically in repairing and protecting our own houses against future weather-related disasters.
ROMAIN BEAUXIS
