It usually shows up a few weeks before the policy renews. You open the envelope or the email, skip past the cover letter, find the premium, and do the math twice to make sure you read it right.
It's the question we hear more than any other at our office in Lafayette, and it comes from every corner of our market: a young family in Sugar Mill Pond, a retired couple in an older brick ranch in Carencro, a landlord with a double in Mid-City. The answer is almost never one thing. Here's how to figure out what moved on your policy, and what you can do about it before it renews.
Louisiana's homeowners market has settled down from the worst of the post-Ida years. State data shows the average homeowners rate change fell from a 14% increase in 2023 to roughly flat so far in 2026, and more than 20 new companies have been licensed to write homeowners coverage here in the past three years. We covered what that means for the market in [LINK: Louisiana insurance crisis easing post].
Those are averages across every carrier and every parish, though. Your carrier may have filed an increase while others filed cuts. And even if your carrier's rates held steady, your premium can still climb because of what changed on your own policy. That's where to look first.
Many policies raise your dwelling coverage automatically at renewal to keep pace with construction costs. More coverage means more premium. Compare this year's dwelling limit with last year's on your declarations page. If it jumped, that may account for a good share of the increase.
That isn't necessarily bad news. A dwelling limit that tracks what it would cost to rebuild is what makes replacement cost coverage work, as we explained in [LINK: Thankful For wk1 replacement cost post]. It's still worth confirming the new number is realistic for your home instead of just accepting it.
Roof age is one of the biggest pricing factors in south Louisiana. A roof that was 12 years old at your last renewal is 13 now, and some carriers price older roofs higher, add a surcharge past a certain age, or change how roof damage is settled. If you replaced your roof and your carrier doesn't have the new date on file, you may be paying for a roof you no longer have.
If you've upgraded to a FORTIFIED roof, that matters even more, especially with new discount rules arriving in January [LINK: FAQ post 5 fortified roof].
Discounts expire quietly. Common ones to look for:
Line up last year's declarations page next to this year's and look for anything that's missing.
A renewal doesn't always reprice the same policy. Carriers sometimes change the hurricane or named storm deductible, add a roof endorsement, or adjust other terms at renewal. Look for a summary of changes page in your renewal packet. If your premium went down but your deductible went up, that isn't really a savings. We walk through how those deductibles work in [LINK: FAQ post 4 hurricane deductible].
Some of the increase may have nothing to do with you. Reinsurance, claim costs, and each company's own loss experience in Louisiana all feed into the rates it files with the Louisiana Department of Insurance. Those filings are public, and the Department has an online search tool where you can look up approved rate changes by company.
Kastner Insurance Group is an independent agency based in Lafayette, working with homeowners across Acadiana, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and the North Shore. Send us your renewal and we'll walk through what changed, what's worth keeping, and what other carriers would charge for comparable home insurance. Get a second opinion on your insurance before it renews. Call 337-291-0018 or reach out here.
Founded in 2017, Kastner Insurance Group is a full-service, independent insurance broker based in Lafayette, LA. Our insurance agents specialize in offering a variety of insurance products tailored to individual and commercial needs, making sure clients receive personalized and comprehensive coverage options from a variety of insurance companies/insurance carriers.
With over 43 years of combined experience, the team at Kastner Insurance Group is dedicated to providing expert advice and exceptional service. They proudly serve professional offices and businesses across Lafayette city/parish, Youngsville, Broussard, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Alexandria, Acadiana, and statewide in Louisiana.