A little over six months after Hurricane Katrina made its mark as one of the worst natural disasters to hit the United States, state insurance regulators are saying that things are returning to normalcy, albeit slowly.

The disaster has given rise to several new consumer efforts which commissioners in Louisiana and in Mississippi said will help improve service and underscore the efficacy of state insurance regulation.

The latest program, which started during the week of March 20, is a consumer callback program to make sure inquiries concerning hurricane settlements are acknowledged, according to James Donelon, Louisiana insurance commissioner. A callback will be made to insurance consumers 21 days after an initial contact with the department, he explained.

Louisiana has also set up a mediation process to facilitate settlement of claims, he added. That program has processed 35,000 claims, Mr. Donelon reported. Total hurricane claims to date are 950,000, and telephone inquiries have averaged about 20,000 per month for a total of approximately 100,000, he said. Of those, 5,000 have become formal complaints, Mr. Donelon said.

The majority of those claims are property-casualty claims rather than life insurance or health insurance claims, he noted.

Claims payments have totaled $10 billion for Katrina and $2 billion for Hurricane Rita, Mr. Donelon said.

In some ways, Louisiana policyholders were more fortunate than Mississippi policyholders, he said. Forty percent of Louisiana's coastal area was insured for flood compared with 20 percent for Mississippi, according to Mr. Donelon.

George Dale, Mississippi's insurance commissioner, said the rebound in Katrina's aftermath is a slow process, and “we as Americans are an inpatient people.”

He said that the inland Mississippi counties are returning to normal but the three coastal counties are experiencing a slower rebound.

But patience is paying off with a total of 474,324 claims filed and $8.7 billion in payments made, he said. Between 80-90 percent of claims filed have been closed, he says.

Mr. Dale also cited a mediation program with an 89 percent closure rate of 156 cases out of 176 cases.

He noted that on April 17 the Governor's Office will begin taking applications for federal grant money for those with no flood insurance.

Special Reports /

Regulators See Post-Katrina Signs Of Normality

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