Higher Citizen Rates On July 1

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The governing board of Louisiana's insurer of last resort has approved an average 6.5 percent annual rate increase for its 119,000 homeowners' policies. Higher rates for those homeowners covered by Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. go into effect July 1st. Citizens chief executive Richard Robertson says that on average, a homeowner will pay an additional $127 per year, bringing the average policy to about $1,730 annually. The board earlier asked for an average nine percent increase, but that was sliced by state Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon.