LDI Joins National Insurance Task Force

Acting Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Robert Wooley announced that the Louisiana Department of Insurance has accepted an invitation to join the NeighborWorks National Insurance Task Force (NITF). Wooley appointed Richard Chambers, the Department’s Deputy Commissioner of Minority Affairs, as his designee on the task force.

Wooley said the purpose of the NITF is to develop partnerships with leaders from community-based organizations and the insurance industry to better inform consumers in low-and-moderate-income areas about the property and casualty insurance products and services available to them.

“All of the groups involved with the NITF, including the Department of Insurance, will be working together for the benefit of the consumers in many communities,” Wooley said. “Our work will also help homeowners reduce risk, improve the safety of their homes and create a better-educated consumer.”

Deputy Commissioner Chambers added that becoming part of the NITF enables the Department of Insurance to impact an even larger number of people in a positive way. “This is a great opportunity to work with the NITF to further educate Louisianans about insurance issues and to address items of concern to consumers, regulators and the insurance industry,” Chambers said.

According to the NITF, there are currently five operating functions within the task force that are coordinated through a national steering committee. These operating groups are focused primarily on consumer/insurer education and research involving loss mitigation techniques that address the common causes of losses in urban homeowners markets.

The federally created Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, founder of the NeighborWorks Network, established the National Insurance Task Force in 1994. The NITF includes representatives from the insurance industry’s top property and casualty carriers, insurance industry trade associations, insurance regulators, educational institutions, the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation and members of the national NeighborWorks Network.

In 2000, NeighborWorks organizations helped more than 34,000 lower-income families purchase, repair and maintain their homes and attracted nearly $1.3 billion in total direct investments in their neighborhoods.