Louisiana FAIR Plan: what it covers, what it costs, who qualifies

Does Louisiana have a FAIR Plan?

Yes. Louisiana has a state-chartered insurer of last resort: the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, often called LA Citizens. The legislature created it in 2003 under La. R.S. 22:2291 et seq., merging the prior FAIR Plan and Coastal Plan into a single residual-market carrier. If a regular carrier dropped your home, this is the program you fall back on.

LA Citizens still runs two distinct programs. The FAIR Plan writes property above the Intracoastal Waterway; the Coastal Plan writes property between the Gulf of Mexico and the Intracoastal Waterway. Which one applies depends on where the home sits, not on the homeowner's choice. Together they sit behind the voluntary admitted market: a Louisianian who has been non-renewed or cannot find coverage from a regular carrier applies through a licensed Louisiana agent. The full eligibility rules, the perils these policies cover, and the application path are in the sections below.

How much will it cover?

Louisiana Citizens writes three policy forms: a homeowners policy (HO-3 type), a dwelling fire policy (DP forms, for rental or investment property), and commercial property. The homeowners form covers fire, lightning, windstorm, and hail, hurricane wind included, plus the other standard property perils on the form (Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, verified May 2026). The DP forms used for rental and investment property are named-peril: they pay only for losses caused by perils the policy lists, with no catch-all open-peril dwelling coverage. Personal property on the homeowners form settles at actual cash value, the depreciated figure, unless a replacement-cost endorsement is added.

Coverage D, additional living expenses if the home is uninhabitable, runs at 10% of the Coverage A dwelling amount, capped at 24 months. Coverage F, medical payments to others, maxes out at $2,000. As of the November 2021 board action at Louisiana Citizens, the residential policy could carry personal property (Coverage C) of up to roughly $1,000,000, contents coverage of $500,000, and personal liability (Coverage E) of up to $300,000; the plan does not publish current limits on its public site, so confirm in-force figures with a Citizens-appointed Louisiana agent before relying on them in a closing file.

Two deductibles apply: a flat-dollar all-peril deductible on non-hurricane losses, and a percentage hurricane deductible (a percentage of Coverage A) on hurricane losses. Flood is excluded from every Citizens form. The standard companion purchase in Louisiana is flood insurance through the NFIP or a private flood carrier, not a California-style difference-in-conditions wrap (Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, verified May 2026).

What's the maximum dwelling coverage on the Louisiana FAIR Plan?

Louisiana Citizens does not publish a current residential dwelling (Coverage A) cap on its public site. Per-property limits of liability are set in the plan's Manual of Rules and Procedures (Underwriting Guidelines), adopted by the Governing Board under Section 6 of the Louisiana Citizens Plan of Operation, which is an agent-gated document. The headline residential dwelling number is not on the record; the safest way to confirm it is to ask a Citizens-appointed Louisiana agent or the plan directly before you rely on a figure in a closing file.

What is on the record from a 2021 board action: as of the November 2021 board action at Louisiana Citizens, the residential policy could carry personal property (Coverage C) of up to roughly $1,000,000, contents coverage of $500,000, and personal liability (Coverage E) of up to $300,000; the plan does not publish current limits on its public site, so confirm in-force figures with a Citizens-appointed Louisiana agent before relying on them in a closing file. The same November 2021 action raised commercial limits to $10,000,000 per building, $3,200,000 in contents, and $20,000,000 aggregate per insured, with a two-year sunset/re-evaluation built in.

If your home's rebuild cost is above whatever residential cap the manual sets today, the plan will write up to that cap and a difference-in-conditions policy fills the rest. Coverage A and contents settle on a stated basis you should pin down before binding; see replacement cost vs. actual cash value.

Who is eligible for the Louisiana FAIR Plan?

Anyone who can't get a property policy in Louisiana's voluntary (private) market. In practice the agent has to document at least one written declination from an admitted private carrier; there's no fixed multi-declination statutory test.

The reason the bar is set there is the pricing rule. Under La. R.S. 22:2303, Louisiana Citizens' rates must be set at least 10% above the highest rate charged by any admitted private insurer in your parish. If a private carrier will write you, that policy is almost always cheaper. The structure is deliberate: Citizens is priced to be the last resort, not a parallel option to shop.

Both owner-occupied homes (on an HO-3 type policy) and rental or investment dwellings (on a DP-form dwelling fire policy) can qualify, provided the same one-declination test is documented for that specific risk.

One catch worth knowing if you're already on Citizens. Under the depopulation / take-out process, if a private carrier later offers to assume your policy, you generally have to accept it (Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Plan of Operation, verified May 2026). The exception: if the offered premium exceeds your current Citizens premium, the offer isn't comparable and you can opt out.

How do you apply for the Louisiana FAIR Plan?

Through a licensed Louisiana insurance agent or producer appointed to submit Louisiana Citizens business. The plan does not sell direct to consumers (Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, verified May 2026). If your current agent doesn't write Citizens, ask for a referral, or work with an independent agent who handles multiple markets; the LA Citizens 'Policy Holder' page lists consumer resources but routes you back to an appointed producer for a quote.

What to gather before you call an agent: a recent inspection report or current photos, your prior policy declarations page, replacement-cost numbers from a recent appraisal, and documentation of any wind-mitigation features (roof age, hurricane straps, opening protection). Citizens does not publish a checklist, but agents writing the plan generally need this material plus proof you have been declined by admitted carriers. If the property took hurricane damage, expect underwriting questions about completed repairs and any open claims.

Turnaround is not published by the plan. How quickly a policy issues depends on the agent's workload and how complete the file is; properties with open claims or significant repair history take longer. Once a policy is bound, your lender will want the insurance binder as proof of coverage before close.

How much will it cost?

The Louisiana FAIR Plan is, by statute, more expensive than what a private admitted carrier would charge for the same house in the same parish. La. R.S. 22:2303 requires Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to set its rates at least 10% above the highest rate any admitted private insurer charges in your parish. The rule is deliberate: the legislature wants Citizens to be a true last resort, not a cheaper option a homeowner would pick on price.

That floor moves with the private market, so the dollar premium varies widely by parish, construction, roof age, and proximity to the coast. A frame house in a coastal parish where the highest admitted rate is already several thousand dollars a year will land well above that; an inland brick home in a parish where private rates are lower will land closer to the private market, but still above it.

Recent rate history matters too. LA Citizens implemented a roughly 63% statewide rate increase in 2023, the largest in the plan's history, and has continued to file increases since. The plan's hurricane deductible is a percentage of the Coverage A dwelling limit, not a flat dollar amount, so on a $400,000 home a 5% hurricane deductible is $20,000 out of pocket before wind coverage pays anything. Build that into the math before you compare a Citizens quote to a standard policy.

If your premium just jumped before the non-renewal arrived, the why my premium just jumped walk-through covers what a Citizens quote will and won't reduce. Eligibility, how to apply, and the wrap (DIC) question are below.

What's changed recently with the Louisiana FAIR Plan

LA Citizens enrollment surged after the 2020 to 2021 hurricane wave (Laura, Delta, Zeta, Ida) and the resulting insolvency of roughly a dozen Louisiana property carriers, peaking at approximately 140,000 policies in summer 2023; as of November 2025 approximately 105,000 remain in summer 2023 (Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, verified May 2026). Since 2024 the book has shrunk through the plan's depopulation program: by early 2026 the plan was on Round 23 of take-outs, with the private market recovering after the 2023 legislative reforms and the Insure Louisiana Incentive Program, roughly $45 million plus in grants to bring carriers back.

LA Citizens implemented a roughly 63% statewide rate increase in 2023, the largest in plan history. In November 2021 the plan also raised its commercial limits on a temporary basis: $10 million per building, $3.2 million in contents, and $20 million aggregate per insured (Louisiana Citizens Plan of Operation).

In November 2024 the LA Citizens board approved an "Earned Premium Endorsement," effective in 2025 after LDI approval (Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation). The endorsement restructures how earned premium and mid-term cancellations are calculated; it drew consumer scrutiny in early 2026. For agents working mid-term cancellations or rewrites, the change directly affects refund math.

On January 10, 2025 LA Citizens announced the end of its long-running emergency assessment, the surcharge on most Louisiana property and casualty policies dating to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, effective April 1, 2025 (Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, verified May 2026). That surcharge had been a fixed line item on Louisiana property and casualty bills for nearly two decades; its end lowers the all-in cost of any Louisiana policy. Dated entries for plan and rate changes track in the changelog.

What about a difference-in-conditions (DIC) wrap?

In Louisiana, the standard companion purchase to a FAIR Plan policy is flood insurance, not a difference-in-conditions (DIC) wrap. Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation writes full homeowners forms (an HO-3 type, plus dwelling-fire DP forms for rental and investor property), so the gap a DIC policy fills in other states, liability, theft, water damage, is largely already inside the Citizens contract (verified May 2026).

A difference-in-conditions policy is a second policy that sits on top of a base fire-only policy and covers what that base policy excludes. It is the typical answer in California, where the FAIR Plan writes a stripped fire-only form. Louisiana is not structured that way, so most Citizens buyers do not carry one.

What you almost certainly do need is a separate flood policy. Citizens, like every standard homeowners or dwelling form sold in Louisiana, excludes flood. Coverage comes through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or a private flood carrier; an independent agent who already writes Citizens can usually quote both in the same appointment. If your lender is asking for proof of coverage and the property sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area, the flood binder is the document that holds up your close, not a DIC wrap. For how a wrap works in states where it is the practical answer, see what a difference-in-conditions policy is.

What about surplus lines or a specialty admitted carrier first?

Before falling back on Louisiana Citizens, an independent agent will typically try two other markets first: small specialty admitted carriers and the surplus-lines (E&S) market. Both can be worth a shot for a home the major admitted carriers have walked away from.

Specialty admitted carriers are state-licensed insurers that focus on niches the national carriers don't want, including older homes, coastal homes, and homes with prior claims. Their policies look like a standard HO-3, are backed by the state guaranty fund if the carrier fails, and price closer to the voluntary market than Louisiana Citizens does.

Surplus-lines carriers, also called excess & surplus or non-admitted, are licensed to write risks the admitted market declines. They are not state-rate-regulated and they are not backed by the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association if the carrier fails. They generally cost more than a standard admitted policy but can come in below a Louisiana Citizens policy paired with a difference-in-conditions wrap, especially for higher-value homes. At claim time the distinction matters; the admitted vs surplus lines page covers what you give up by going non-admitted.

The order most independent agents work in: admitted, then specialty admitted, then surplus lines, then Louisiana Citizens. Ask yours to show you what they actually quoted at each stop.

What to do this week if you've been non-renewed

1. Read the notice carefully and write down two dates: the cancellation date and the issue date. Your cancellation date is the hard deadline. The issue date tells you whether the carrier gave you the minimum statutory notice required in Louisiana, which is the lever if the timing looks short.
2. Get quotes from three admitted carriers (insurers licensed and regulated by the state) through an independent agent before applying to LA Citizens. The voluntary market has to decline first; that's how you become eligible. An independent agent can run several carriers at once. If you live in a coastal parish or have recent storm-claim history, expect declinations: that's the trigger for Citizens, not a sign you did something wrong.
3. Have your agent file the Louisiana Citizens application on your behalf. The plan is broker-channel only, so you can't apply directly. Bring proof of the declinations, your prior policy declarations page, recent claim history, and photos of the roof and exterior.
4. Decide whether to add a difference-in-conditions policy (a 'wrap') alongside Citizens. The Citizens policy is a stripped-down property contract that excludes liability and may not match your home's full rebuild cost. A wrap fills those gaps. Surplus-lines brokers write them; ask your agent which carriers are active in your parish.
5. Put next year's renewal on the calendar and keep shopping. Citizens is built as a stop-gap, not a permanent home. Set a reminder 60 days before each renewal to re-run the admitted market, since carrier appetites in Louisiana shift year to year.

For the full move-by-move walkthrough on a non-renewal, see if you've just been non-renewed.