Calcasieu Parish committee approves 2025 insurance renewals after staff wins roughly $1 million in property premium savings

The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury General Insurance Committee on Jan. 30 approved a resolution to bind the parish’s 2025–26 insurance coverages after staff and the parish’s broker reported a large reduction in property premiums.

The savings were driven largely by preparation and outreach to underwriters, improved building data, and capital investments in stronger construction, officials said. "This year, we generated about a 24% decrease in your property premium," Bella Bourgeois, a broker with Arthur J. Gallagher, told the committee.

The committee voted to adopt the resolution to bind coverages beginning Jan. 31, 2025, after a presentation on coverages and limits. Chair Hayes called for the motion and the committee approved it without recorded opposition.

Why it matters: The parish’s staff, risk management, facilities and outside broker told the committee they collected thousands of building data points, linked a statement-of-values to mapping systems and emphasized the parish’s hardened construction standards to underwriters. Committee members and staff said those efforts persuaded carriers and increased competition in the marketplace, which lowered the parish’s starting premium baseline.

What staff presented: Risk-management staff said the parish’s total insured value rose from last year to this year (reported in the presentation as roughly $3.10 to $3.39), reflecting changes in valuations and new assets. Using a rate comparison cited by staff — roughly a 1.24 rate last year vs. a 0.94 rate this year — the parish’s property premium reduction translated to an approximate savings of $1,018,000, the presentation said. No changes were made to coverage limits or deductibles when calculating the savings.

Staff also said carriers restored and increased several sublimits that had been reduced after Hurricane Laura. Examples provided in the presentation included increases in extra expense coverage (from $1,000,000 after Laura to $2,500,000) and debris removal (to $5,000,000). Staff recommended adding a pollution coverage for property on the statement of values with $1,000,000 per pollution condition, a $1,000,000 aggregate and a $50,000 retention.

Other line items: The presentation listed small increases in some lines tied to higher valuations (for example, terrorism coverage and medical professional liability) and noted decreases in aviation (0.74%) and cyber (18.44%); staff said the cyber deductible (retention) was reduced from $250,000 to $50,000. Staff told the committee there were no deductible or limit changes on core coverages other than the retention change for cyber.

Staff and broker credited cross-department work and prior capital hardening after the 2020s hurricanes for the improved market reception. Dean Eric Martin of facilities and Laura Bolton (risk/insurance staff) were cited by the broker as key contributors in preparing building-level information and maps for underwriters. Committee members offered congratulations and suggested a press release to inform the public about the savings.

Votes at a glance: The committee adopted a resolution approving the parish’s 2025 insurance renewals and recommended binding the coverages from Jan. 31, 2025, through 2026. The motion passed with committee assent; no names were recorded in the roll-call vote on the resolution in the transcript.

What the decision does not do: The committee presentation and the adopted resolution, as recorded, do not change coverage limits or deductibles for core lines beyond the cyber retention change and do not identify specific carriers in the public record. Staff noted some line increases were set by external programs (for example, the state patient compensation fund).

Looking ahead: Staff said they plan additional outreach to more carriers next year to increase competition and further reduce premiums. They also offered to share a video produced with Common Media that shows facility hardening and was used in underwriter meetings.