Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Pushes to Expand Fortify Homes Program After Recent Successes | Insurify [Video]

Louisiana has some of the highest home insurance rates in the country, but state leaders want to expand a plan to strengthen homes against storm damage to help some lessen the burden.

State Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple wants to provide more funding for Louisiana’s popular Fortify Homes Program next year and add coverage for window and door improvements, Fox 8 reported. The program, which picks winners through a lottery, currently awards up to $10,000 to homeowners who repair their roofs to a specific storm-resistant standard called FORTIFIED.

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) created the FORTIFIED standard to help protect homes from significant storm damage by sealing roofs against rain, installing impact protection for windows and doors, bracing chimneys, and more.

The Louisiana Department of Insurance launched the program in 2023 with $30 million in funding. Initially, the program accepted 3,000 applicants. The legislature funded the program …