Louisiana's insurance commissioner urges quick response

<p>Louisiana's insurance commissioner urged insurance officials in states affected by Hurricane Katrina to be quick to respond to people's needs.</p><p>"You as an industry at this point in time, will need to be a leader, and you will be judged by how you respond," Insurance Commissioner J. Robert Wooley told the group that included representatives from his state, along with states including Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.</p><p>Wooley met with the group at a hotel near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to discuss ways to speed up payments and make sure people affected get money quickly. He estimated the insurance loss in Louisiana alone at $19 billion. He is seeking comment from insurance and industry officials before the policy is put into effect.</p><p>Wooley handed out a draft order that must be approved by Louisiana's governor before it goes into effect. The proposal would suspend insured people from having to make payments on their policy or take any action to keep the policy current from the time officials issued a state of emergency Aug. 26 until it runs out, now scheduled for Sept. 25.</p><p>The draft also said no policy will be canceled or not renewed solely because of a claim resulting from Katrina.</p><p>Wooley defended the response of local and state government in reacting to the hurricane. "I am appalled at the finger pointing that is going on in the national media about what has happened," he said.</p><p>But he urged insurance officials to act quickly to respond to damage claims. "It shouldn't be a delayed response," Wooley said. "It should put money in people's hands as quickly as possible."</p><p>Alabama Insurance Commissioner Walter Bell told the group they should relax their regulations related to flood insurance. He noted that many residents in Mobile that were destroyed by flooding were not in the flood plain.</p>

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