Porch and Parish The Podcast
Our mission is to make sure every Zachary resident feels heard and engaged! Host Mike Gennaro facilitates candid conversations with local leaders, influencers and innovators in Zachary, Louisiana and beyond with the help of producer Mike Holt. New episode every Monday at noon!
Porch and Parish The Podcast
Mastering the Complexities of Commercial Insurance with Danette Castello
Unlock the secrets of commercial insurance with Danette Castellot, the esteemed president of the Louisiana Professional Insurance Agents, who joins us for a riveting episode that will forever change the way you view the intricacies of insurance coverage. Whether it’s the whimsical notion of insuring beloved fictitious characters like Garfield or the gravity of tort reform's impact on homeowners and businesses, our conversation spans the spectrum. Danette, with her extensive expertise, lays bare the curious and critical aspects of insurance policies, and provides the quintessential advice for navigating this complex landscape.
Our chat does not shy away from the cutting-edge concerns of the digital age, such as the rise of cyber threats. We also shed light on the seldom-discussed responsibility of homeowners to engage in proactive maintenance, mitigating risks that could otherwise spiral into substantial claims. The episode wraps up with a look at the nuances of municipal insurance and the dire consequences of misinformation, underscoring the paramount importance of honesty and transparency in insurance practices. Join us for an episode that's as enlightening as it is essential for anyone with a stake in the future of insurance.
Hey, zachary, we've been busy producing weekly episodes and covering the city you know and love. We're a city on the move, and with that comes a ton of commercial activity. Commercial development cannot happen without insurance, and that's a topic you could explain to me about a hundred times. Now it's still need to refer to a professional for help. Welcome to today's interview featuring Danette Castello, president of the Louisiana Professional Insurance Agents and head of the esteemed Castello Agency specializing in commercial and residential insurance. With a wealth of experience and expertise, danette is here to enlighten us on the dynamic world of insurance In the problematic world of insurance.
Speaker 2:I'm Mike Gennaro, publisher of Porch and Parish. We bring you the best of Zachary in the development north region through candid conversations every Monday from our headquarters right here on Virginia Street. This is Porch and Parish, the podcast. Stay tuned and we'll be right back with the lightning round.
Speaker 1:I'm ready.
Speaker 2:She's going to explain why she had a particularly stressful day today in the insurance world. So we're going to get into all that and more. But first some fun stuff. Your name gets mispronounced a lot as Costello. Yes, darn that, abed and Costello. Yes, we're going to play a game called Choose your Favorite Pronunciation. All right. So, for example, potato, potato, and you get to pick which one you used. All right, so are you a pajamas or a pajamas?
Speaker 1:person.
Speaker 2:Pajama, pajama. Okay, nuclear or nuclear Nuclear. This is fun Advertisement or advertisement.
Speaker 1:Advertisement Okay, for sure.
Speaker 2:This is my favorite one in Zachary. So look, I have my own flaws. Coming from Mettery, new Orleans, with this one, it's like nails on a chalkboard For sale or for sale.
Speaker 1:For sale.
Speaker 2:For sale, right, okay, all right, I get for sale a lot. Is that property for sale? I'm like, excuse me.
Speaker 1:Oh, like S-E-L-L instead of S-A-L-L. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's like really bad to do. Schedule or schedule, oh, definitely schedule. Okay, all right. All right, you passed the test, you're normal. Yay, the pajamas was the only foreign one to me. I mean we could get into a lot other things, like French.
Speaker 1:I mean you could really shorten it, it's just PJs. Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of French pronunciations of things like Boudin or Boudin All right. What's the most unusual insurance claim you've ever encountered?
Speaker 1:Oh goodness Kidding.
Speaker 2:That's a tough one.
Speaker 1:That is a tough one. I'll have to come back to it. Yeah, I think of it.
Speaker 2:Like fraud. No, if you could ensure any, this is a tough one too. Think about it. If you could ensure any fictional character I think superheroes or cartoons who would it be? And why? Maybe Garfield? Are you reading my mind?
Speaker 1:No, it's Garfield. Are you serious? Yeah?
Speaker 2:That's the one that I was thinking. There's no way out of all the fictional characters in the world you picked Garfield.
Speaker 1:He's low key. He's not going to get involved in a whole lot of stuff. I was seriously, mainly food. He's relaxed. He's not going to go jump off cliffs or do anything kind of crazy. So yeah that's calm, it's safe.
Speaker 2:I see your perspective. I was about to say, for example, would you ensure Garfield's lasagna from falling off the count? That's weird. That's weird, that's all I can say. I'm blown away. What's the strangest item someone has tried to ensure with your agency?
Speaker 1:Maybe not the strangest, but the most difficult might be a bus converted into an RV.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a really big battle. People assume that it's no big deal. There's a bus to live in it. But it has all these. It has a lot of negatives to the carriers and it's a lot harder to place than people realize.
Speaker 2:What about, like coffee time, with what they did converting an RV into a commercial building over there?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it has its challenges.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. If insurance policies covered everyday mishaps like, for example, misplacing your cell phone, what would be your top selling plan?
Speaker 1:Oh good, these are so hard. I mean like you can't sell a memory plan but most of the people just forget and then you have to go back to it later.
Speaker 2:So a memory plan? Oh yeah, I don't know. For me it would be the cell phone thing, for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean you just. Well, maybe I would sell a lot of watches so I could find my phone all the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'm not even going to ask you the next one. You've been peppered with the toughest questions ever. What is the best piece of insurance related advice you've ever received, and who gave it to you? It could be career advice, it could be insurance advice, kind of like a quote. It's what I'm looking for.
Speaker 1:Everything is insurable.
Speaker 2:Got it.
Speaker 1:Everything yeah, so it is. In one way, shape or form. Everything you own is insurable, and the thing you the one thing you think you'll never need it for is the one thing that you're going to need it for first.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know your jewelry, your toys.
Speaker 1:You know just things that you say. I'll do that later.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Things that you're going to lose or misplace or have stolen or anything like that, and so a lot of times you put those things off.
Speaker 2:Yeah, things you take for granted.
Speaker 1:And they're usually the easiest to just add to a policy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all right, getting into the core questions here. So can you share some insights into the unique challenges and opportunities? That's very positive in the Louisiana insurance market.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, there's no doubt the last couple of years have been the hardest in my career. I've been doing this for almost 30 years and I've never seen a market this difficult to write. They have. They call hard markets and soft markets, and we are definitely in a hard market. The hard market means there's not enough carriers, the cost is outrageous, the coverage is less and it's just finding the carriers willing to write the risk. Yeah, as as as our world is changing, we want to protect ourselves more because we feel more exposed and at the same time that that's happening, we're having less and less and less access to the marketplace to be able to place those risks for everybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and in Louisiana you guys are. I know it's not you, it's the how do we refer to this? The carriers, right, Mm? Hmm, the carriers are making it very hard for commercial deals to pencil out and make financial sense, cause it's almost like the coverage is just doubling on Right On normal properties, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know, what people fail to realize is that insurance is still a business, and that the carriers are here, you know, to make money, but not an exuberant amount of money.
Speaker 1:But, with the large catastrophic claims that we've had from Katrina all the way up to, you know, 2020, when we had the other storms. They really aren't making money. They're not profitable. In Louisiana it has to do for the number of claims, has to do with the number of fraudulent claims, the cost of goods, not enough workforce. You have to think. Whenever they have those catastrophic losses, they fly in adjusters from all over the nation to try to just be able to handle the amount of claims that come in. Yeah, and it's not cost effective. And when they have to purchase reinsurance from the carriers, reinsurance is based on the capacity that a carrier has in a certain area and once they reach that capacity, they have to stop writing and they can no longer take on more business.
Speaker 2:So reinsurance is insurance that is provided for something that has already had a claim on it. Is that correct or no?
Speaker 1:No, reinsurance is going to be what a carrier is required to have in a bank, basically for catastrophic losses. So, they have to purchase insurance. You know they have a certain amount of capital in their accounts right now for the risk that they've agreed to insure. And then they have to purchase reinsurance from a larger carrier Lords of London or someone like that to back up that carrier in the event of a catastrophic loss so that they can go and help pay the remainder of the claims.
Speaker 2:Got it. So is the problem the reinsurance or the insurance?
Speaker 1:It's both.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So we have a lot of companies and carriers that are facing fraudulent claims excessive claims, bad faith penalties.
Speaker 1:So let's just take a claim from one of the hurricanes and you have 180 days to file your claim. They file it within 180 days, they go back and forth, they settle the claim, pay for the damages to the roof and so forth, and the carrier walks away thinking that that claim is finished. And then a year later or whatever that timeframe may be it's not necessarily a year, but within a certain timeframe they decide that they're not satisfied. Go to a lawyer or a lawyer says something on TV if you're not satisfied with how your claim went contact us.
Speaker 1:So they do so and if they go through that process and the carrier loses and they have to file a supplemental claim, well, if they lose that supplemental claim and the carrier has to pay for that, they are then imposed a bad faith penalty, meaning that they didn't act in good faith, they took longer than they should have to pay the claims and the $50,000 claim turns into a $400,000 claim.
Speaker 2:Basically, oh what.
Speaker 1:If you multiply that over hundreds of thousands of claims, then it becomes an issue. It's the same thing with the lawyers that they had out of Texas that were filing claims on the behalf of insurgents and insurgents didn't even know they were filing the claims You're kidding me. So it's a big problem. It's a very big problem.
Speaker 2:So that's a type of fraud in and of itself.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:I had no idea. Yes 20Voiceover-躋, and so it turns into to 000 2000. What an exponentially larger claim, because the lawyers are getting paid a fee on top of it.
Speaker 1:Yes, they, I mean they get their fee. I don't know what it is off the top you know but they, they have figured out a workaround to the system and they continuously hammer the carriers and the carriers. If they can't fix it and we don't have laws to protect them from that from happening, then they're just going to choose not to write. And so you know, they either leave the state or they become insolvent because they didn't have enough premium or collect enough premium for the risk that they encounter.
Speaker 2:Okay, I have to know is there a state that insurance carriers just find to be their darling, or something?
Speaker 1:No, it's a problem across the Gulf Coast, but one of the things that we've been working on is trying to gather what other states, what other coastal states Texas, mississippi, florida, all of these carriers we all have similar issues, but what's working in those states? Because it used to be Florida was the one that didn't. You didn't want anybody to go to Um and we're we're the number one state that people don't want to come and write in and it's because of North. Louisiana.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's our state as a whole.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Um, and it's because we're we are one of the most litigious states in the United States. I mean, we are so happy.
Speaker 2:And so it sounds like we're. So the frauds? Is it coming from basic citizens that are just lying their faces off, or is it lawyers that are creating?
Speaker 1:the fraud.
Speaker 2:I think it's a combination right.
Speaker 1:So you're you know you're going to have the bad apples out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Um, I don't believe that every attorney had just wakes up today and says, oh, who can I go, you know, surprise, today, with a lawsuit that's, you know, fraudulent? I don't believe that that happens. Yeah, uh, I believe that there's a system where, um, you know, I've seen it, I've seen a $3,000 car wreck where there's hardly any damage to the vehicle whatsoever, turning to hundreds of thousands of dollars in bodily injury when nobody was truly injured. Oh no, I just think it's a combination. Yeah, if the people are willing to not tell the truth.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And the lawyers are willing to make the doctor's appointments and the schedules and all that follow. You know, make it happen.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:It's a combination, so um it's, it's a real problem.
Speaker 2:The word collusion comes to mind there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, the real estate industry is hitting with uh good.
Speaker 1:It is.
Speaker 2:Been hit with a collusion uh issue. You know it's not really talked about that much, but um yeah, the the the whole buyer's agent fee is is up is at risk now because you know, anytime you have two people that are willing to do something that is not um, you know upright, then you have problems, that's true, that's very true, All right.
Speaker 2:Well, um, this is a perfect segue into your involvement as the president of the Louisiana PIA. That's incredible, Um, you know, coming from a big Zachary uh fan, to have you here, that's. That's pretty cool. How are you able to impact Zachary through that and Louisiana as a whole?
Speaker 1:You know it's. It's exciting to be on that front of it.
Speaker 1:Um you know to to go and watch how the legislature works and and meet with other um board members throughout the state. Our board is composed of members from all corners of Louisiana Um, and you get to hear their struggles and their successes and what works for them and what doesn't Um for me. You know, for them putting Zachary on the map, you know cause? We're in the middle of the state and so a lot of people are like oh, you're from Zachary, you're not really feeling the effects of what's going on.
Speaker 2:And it's quite different than I know, we are Check out the diversion canal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know you know, so we're. We have the fastest growing community in the state, so how can you? Not say that it's not affecting us. You know it affects home builders, it affects lenders, it affects real estate agents.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Say that again. Fastest growing community in the state.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're one of the ones. Yeah, I mean our school district and everything. So, um, you know we're on the map Every time I go out of town or they're where are you from, zachary? They know where Zachary is, so that's exciting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's kind of got this. Um, you know I don't want to make a bad comparison or a good comparison, but like when you hear West Monroe, you're like, oh, that that community is known for something. Wait, wait, what is it? It's like it's not just football, but you know we're like one of those communities now that is is known for winning and being good at things, and that comes with its own challenges, because you know we're so used to being number one and winning now that people we want to keep winning.
Speaker 1:We want to keep winning, but you gotta keep working. We can't stand not winning, though, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so I want to speak to some of your community involvement. What is it? You know it doesn't just take waking up in the morning and winning. It takes a lot of people like you and all these amazing business leaders who really put themselves out there to to do good things behind the scenes. You know you're on a lot of charitable boards, yeah, but uh, you're also very active in things like rotary and you know, PIA here, where you're actually a mover and a shaker, you know.
Speaker 1:Well, I just think that it it involved. You have to be involved in your community, because those are the people that are going to ultimately become your clients, hopefully.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Um, you can't keep up with what they're facing and what's going on with them. If you, if you're not out there meeting and greeting and and seeing what's going on, and yeah, um, trying to make it better, and um, you can't. You lose the right to complain or fuss if you're not willing to do something about it. There it is so um, you know you have to be there to listen to it and see it happen and try to fix it.
Speaker 1:If you can you know and just be part of the fix. You can't always ultimately fix it by yourself, but you can be part of the process.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've been in the trenches at rotary a couple of times and it's not always an easy process, even to put on a simple event right. Yeah, people disagreeing or you know even, um, yeah, it's just part of it, but um, I think there's something to be said about you being out there as a president of PIA to to put Zachary on the map and a really um spearhead positive change. No-transcript. You know professionals in the region.
Speaker 1:You know we're doing a grassroots effort for the legislative session to where we're trying to inform the public and educate the public on what's happening so that when they can talk to their legislators they can say you know, I know what's going on, I know what's impacted my premium, I know there's no carriers, I know that my agent has done everything that she can possibly do to try to make my situation better and I'll hear to you, because you have to make this happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know. So we basically want things to be less litigious. Yes, we do Tort.
Speaker 1:Reform has to happen and until there's a voice strong enough that mandates that, you know it's gotta come from their constituents that are gonna vote for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And they have to hear it from them to be able to do something about it.
Speaker 2:Is it all on the governor's shoulders?
Speaker 1:I don't think it. No, because the governor can't do it either. I mean, he has the power to veto, so hopefully he won't do that if we get legislation passed. Yeah, and I don't think that he will. But there's just a lot of work that has to be done across party lines. This affects everyone. This is affecting your grocery stores. You know people are trying to make a decision between groceries and paying their homeowner's insurance.
Speaker 2:And I have people trying to make a decision between commercial real estate and just throw it into a bond. Well, and there's a couple of degrees of you know that percentage spread. Well, it used to be investment properties, right?
Speaker 1:So everybody would say put your money in investment properties which you know they're not making more land. So if you can have investment properties, then you should be safe. Well, now it's harder and harder to place those properties with coverage, and if our rates go up, if their insurance rates go? Up then their rent goes up, and then the small business owners rates go up and then the consumer pays for that right. And so it's a never ending domino effect all the way down to our pocketbooks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, is it one of the things that you believe to be a driver of inflation? Or I mean this trickle down effect. It's affecting landlords, and then it affects tenants, and then the tenants go up on their price and you know it's affecting retail for sure.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Space usage Right. Well, and you know the cost to pay your employees has gone up, you know. Just the cost to open your doors as a business owner from day one has gone up, you know. And the conveniences of wanting to do everything electronic. And you know we don't get the opportunity to speak face to face to our clients as much, it's all over the phone or hey, just send me this.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know it costs me 63 cents to mail a letter. It costs significantly more for me to send you a docuSign. Yeah. You know, and people don't realize that and it's convenience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we love to I think it's like 40 bucks a month for me right now, just as a solo guy, you know Well when you send several hundred envelopes a year.
Speaker 1:I mean it gets pricey, so it's not a cost savings for us, but at the same time we know that we need that convenience for our clients. You know so everywhere you look, cost is driving. That in insurance is definitely a part of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, can you speak to any emerging trends that you see in the insurance market that are kind of notable? That might be, you know, changing the industry as a whole for the better, for the worse for agents.
Speaker 1:I can speak to that on a couple of things. Ai is definitely on the forefront of everyone's mind.
Speaker 2:Even for insurance.
Speaker 1:It is. We used to be able to talk to our underwriters. Pick up the phone for all of our carriers and speak to a person and if there was a risk that one through seven fit but you had this one off, you could call them and talk to them and discern whether or not they would be willing to accept it or not. And now we have to go through an online chat for the majority of our carriers before you even get to a person if we get to a person.
Speaker 1:So now it's much more black and white and we don't have that personal touch to be able to say this is a really good risk and if there's something that you don't like about it, maybe we can talk to that insured and say, hey, can you just do this one thing? And then we can get it with them.
Speaker 1:We've lost that. And there's a big push to go to call centers for your everyday functions, your letters to your insured, for marketing all those things. I even had one say that they could use my voice and I was like so when I go to the grocery store and I see them next week, they're gonna say, hey, I had this conversation with you about that and I'm not gonna know anything about it. So that's a very big negative, in my opinion.
Speaker 2:In a small town. That just seems so weird.
Speaker 1:It does, it does.
Speaker 2:That was second consciousness to that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's and we even have people that call us that say, hey, I went online and I got this quote which is such and such carrier, and they're like, well, we can't access that quote, we'll be happy to give you a quote through our agency. And our quote is not the same, and if theirs is less than they were, well, I want that rate. And I'm like, well, you're not gonna have an agent, you're just gonna have an 800 number and you're gonna talk to somebody different every single time. And so it comes down to being personable and being there for our clients and being able to explain stuff away to them. Yeah, I love that about Zachary.
Speaker 2:Business can be really easy if you you're using local vendors and agents and brokers, because they not only know you and your risk, but they know the market.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, yeah, I'm thinking about this creepy TV show that I've been watching on Netflix. And, look, I do not recommend this for underage audiences because you don't. It's mature, all right, but the black mirror it's all about, like, the future of technology, and there is this one episode where they can clone your consciousness. You know, now that we're connecting to people's brains through Neuralink and things like that, they can base. You know, the episode was about taking your consciousness and putting it into an Alexa type device and it runs your house in your life. Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:But it's no longer your consciousness.
Speaker 1:So it's like you know, oh, it's weird.
Speaker 2:That's a little creepy. Yeah, if you want a mental exercise, watch the black mirror. Anyway. All right, let's take a break on that. Keep listening, we'll be right back. The Castellou Agency has provided the insurance our community needs at a price you can afford since 1982. The family owned and woman led insurance agency is ready to help you ensure your home, car, boat and business. Owner, danette Castello, is president and member of the professional insurance agents of Louisiana Association and a proud community partner. When you work with Castellou Agency, you're supporting a locally owned small business. Learn more about the Castellou Agency at castellouagencycom that's C-A-S-T-E-L-L-O agencycom, or give them a call at 225-654-2313. Castellou Agency ensuring our community. All right, and we're back with Danette Castellou. Yeah, we were just having a really fun conversation about you know tech and emerging tech and everything. So yeah.
Speaker 1:so there's an aspect of it to where you can take several articles that you've read and throw it into chat AI and then it can summarize that for you and give you talking points. Or if there's a project that you want your employees to complete for you, you can say I need this, this and this accomplished, throw it in there and it can help guide you through that. I think that's a positive aspect of AI.
Speaker 1:You know it cuts down on the amount of research and stuff that you may have to do because it's readily there, but it can never replace, in my opinion, my interaction with my clients. You know I still want them to be able to pick up the phone and call me and actually get me on the phone. Yeah yeah, you know, that's what I pride myself in. I'm there. If you need to talk to me, then you're gonna call my office and talk to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, let's talk a little bit about emerging threats that could be insured, like cyber risk.
Speaker 1:Oh, cyber is a big deal, cyber. You know, five years ago they didn't even know what to charge for cyber. It was very small and they were guessing, basically. And then now they have cyber attacks all the time. You mean the Department of, I mean the Motor Vehicle Office, and the cost of notifying all of those constituents of the breach of data and what it costs to make them whole again is unbelievable.
Speaker 1:And so those rates have definitely changed as well, and then you wouldn't think that you need cyber on every single risk. But if you take a credit card payment for any of your clients, you need cyber. If you do social media, you need cyber. Anything out there that touches electronics, you need cyber coverage.
Speaker 2:Especially if you're touching other people's money.
Speaker 1:Right, you know, and you just think it's very nonchalant and it's not gonna affect me because I don't have a point of sale aspect. But if you collect data sensitive data at all on anybody, then you need cyber protection. Yeah, yeah, and all that needs to be encrypted, yeah.
Speaker 2:So that's kind of the. Those are the definites. And then, of course, you can get into the crazy stuff like Neuralink and all of those, that can of worms that is gonna open up. I mean, like what? People are connecting their brains to computers. Here we go. Nope, I know not, unless I understand that source code personally, so I've actually been trying really hard to not become a tech dinosaur Like I feel this need to understand the code before everything is just oh, use chat to code, you know or to understand anything I don't know.
Speaker 1:I'm old school too, I just feel like I lose that personal touch and I still have many customers that still need that. They still need that conversation, they still need that assurance and just to bounce it off of someone and talk to them. But there is a definite disconnect between that generation and the generation coming up now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like the generation coming up now is also at risk of becoming dinosaurs to the really smart kids in their own generation.
Speaker 1:Well, it's just yeah, and they've lost communication skills. They don't know how to look you in the eye and have a conversation. You know if you get an interview with them. It's real. It's like pulling teeth almost to get them to say anything. Can I work remote? Yeah, that's the first question.
Speaker 2:Yes, which you know. I do think the whole remote conversation is very interesting for Louisiana because, think about it, you could have I don't know if you have kids that moved away or anything, Did you?
Speaker 1:I did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if they could just live here in Zachary and work remote and have those cool jobs elsewhere that would be an equalizer for our town. But you know, are there any insurance implications to remote work?
Speaker 1:Actually there's a lot of fellow agents, especially in larger cities New Orleans, baton Rouge that have their employees that can work from home I mean with the telephone systems and stuff out there to where you can answer it on your computer from anywhere, makes it a lot better. And then you know there's some that work really well from home and then there's some that you're like I am paying you for eight hours but you're probably doing like two and a half hours worth of work and as an owner I like to be able to hear and teach as the day goes on. If I hear something or see something, you know you miss that opportunity to help that employee grow in their profession and I think that that's a disconnect right there for working at home a lot.
Speaker 2:You enjoy your office right over here on High Street, are you?
Speaker 1:High Street. We are actually. Church Street. Sorry, your church, I mean it's easy to get confused. It is, but I'm straight as five names.
Speaker 2:But yeah, if y'all don't know where she is, I explain.
Speaker 1:We are on the corner of Rollins in Church Street, directly across the street from Charlie Funeral Home.
Speaker 2:First Baptist Church, right there in the corner by the high school. Perfect. Yeah, I was going to say like by the eagle, the eagle carving, we're right behind the eagle and the gazebo right there, first unit in that strip mall. That might just be my favorite of all of the landmarks in Zachary. It's very cool.
Speaker 1:I got to watch and make it. It was really cool, yeah, that was fun.
Speaker 2:I don't want to scare you, but this is a terrible way to preface it. I have chainsaws in my closet here because we have these two gigantic tree stumps outside and I want to do something with them. I'm going to put myself out there and do some amateur chainsaw carving. Good for you, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, this is where glasses and safety and all the things, oh.
Speaker 2:Lord, who am I talking to here? I know, shoot, I'm going to lose my coverage. But yeah, bert Fleming, he hurt his back and so he's like, oh, I don't have to get up on scaffolding and do it, I'm just not feeling it kind of right now he's going to be back. No, he's going to be stronger than ever. He's a local treasure.
Speaker 1:Yes, he is. Yeah, that's beautiful work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, All right. Look, let's talk a little bit about residential insurance. It's specifically the Louisiana Fortified Homes program.
Speaker 1:It's the fortified roof grant program. They're doing it in stages. There's a list of eligibility requirements. It has to be your primary dwelling, it has to be on an existing roof and it is strengthening your roof to make it stronger against hurricane force winds and there is up to a $10,000 grant that you could qualify for. It's all done through the government and, like I said, there's a lot of eligibility, but the end result of that is to make our homes stronger so we won't have as many catastrophic losses due to hurricane force winds, and I believe that part of that reform is just making our building codes all together stronger to help mitigate those damages and help reduce the cost to insurance carriers. Whatever we can do as individuals to mitigate damage is best.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. So, instead of having to file a claim, just be a little bit more proactive. Yes, cool, I can see that being very helpful for a smaller home too, yep.
Speaker 1:I think that, the way the insurance industry is going, you're going to have to do something to take responsibility for the maintenance of your home. An insurance plan is not a maintenance plan. You still have to do what's right to take care of your home, mitigate further damages, prevent claims from happening. And a lot of people see it as I'm going to get a new roof and we need to change that mentality.
Speaker 2:You really because it's hurting our industry. I've had that thought before. It's like hail is outside.
Speaker 1:Oh, I hope it's large Well it's sudden and accidental damage to a home. That's what insurance is for. It's not for prolonged wear and tear. That's not what it's for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, everybody don't break the system, please. We need it intact. Let's talk a little bit about your involvement with insuring the city of Zachary, if you can, a little bit.
Speaker 1:A little bit, yeah. So I mean it's a big undertaking and a lot of things influence that, even to mention the large claims that shouldn't be filed and everything. People see that as a target sometimes and so the bigger entities take the fall for that. And law enforcement liability, with all of body cam coverage and all of that. All of that impacts the liability premiums for the city and everywhere else, and we're a small city.
Speaker 1:Seriously and it impacts us greatly, which impacts all of us as residents of the city, as Zachary, because those costs all get distributed right, yeah, so it's impactful in a not so great way whenever their rates go up exponentially and they haven't budgeted for it.
Speaker 2:So remember when that apartment complex developer sued the city a few years back, maybe five to 10 years ago. They won multi-million dollar lawsuit. Did that impact insurance or was it a direct hit to just the city coffers?
Speaker 1:I mean it's really a direct hit to the city because it just reiterates that we have to stay to the UDC and a lot of times our leadership may not agree with a new development or want that to happen for multiple reasons, but because there is a plan in place, if it meets all the tickers, then they really can't say no.
Speaker 2:Got to go? Yeah, got to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it definitely can impact them. Yeah and it impacts the city, because sometimes we have developments that not everybody's happy about, right, but there's not really a whole lot that they can do.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, the real estate mentor always used to Complain or scream. I don't know about that. It's like look you, you just you can't say no when the rules say you can. You know, right, everybody can. They want to scream and fuss, you know, but ultimately that is the, you can follow the law of the land.
Speaker 1:Well and one certain losses or claims are on there. It makes it undesirable to other carriers and other carriers just won't, they just walk away or choose not to quote it, and so you can reach out to multiple carriers to try to find a solution or get other coverages. And it's not just ABC and D, it's a lot more complex than that.
Speaker 2:So over the course of a lifetime to do people and entities end up with like an insurance wrap sheet absolutely it's a loss report and. The general public look up themselves on the last report.
Speaker 1:I don't know if that is proprietary information.
Speaker 2:So they're like a database that somebody owns Reports it's the Lexus Nexus is.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's expensive to describe you know, but it's run on your clue reports for personal homeowners, it's run on your personal auto history so, and all of that is impacting your rates as well. So everything's computerized now, right. So, used to, you could say do you have any tickets or accidents in the last three to five years? And somebody else I know and, and they didn't have Immediate access to those reports. And so you got one rate.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, now those rates are ready on point, and so we can quote you a price that, once we run those reports, everything shows.
Speaker 2:Yeah it picks up medical everything.
Speaker 1:Oh, not medical. It shows at fault, accidents, speeding tickets. It also shows all the drivers that's ever been registered at your household.
Speaker 2:So wow.
Speaker 1:You know, so it it helps with the carriers to Find out if there's an undisclosed operator. Yeah you know, a lot of times people will have something negative on their record and they're like I'm just not gonna tell them that they live here and I'm not gonna add them to my policy. Wow but they are driving their vehicles. Well, the carrier is not collecting the rate for that exposure right. They think they're writing this, but they actually are writing this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, is that fraud or?
Speaker 1:yes, it's misrepresentation. Yeah, and they've actually added policy language. Some of the carriers have added policy language that states that if an undisclosed operator Ends up involved in an accident, then they will just not pay that claim.
Speaker 2:Yeah so yeah.
Speaker 1:It's. You have to be really careful and read those. Pop that policy language.
Speaker 2:Oh no, I've tried, I just I can't do it.
Speaker 1:Well, if you're up and up and you tell everybody who's, in your house that you don't have anything to worry about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's some tricky language.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it can.
Speaker 2:It's is ripe with just terms that.
Speaker 1:Well, I knew that you really do need an agent to get you through. You do and a lot of times people will want to reduce their coverages to Save money. Yeah but their exposure is greater. Yeah just like adding a youthful. You're, you know they it's. It's expensive to add a youthful, but then they want to reduce their coverage. But if you reduce your coverage then you may not have enough to pay the claim if you're youthful gets in an accident.
Speaker 2:Yeah, did you say youth, youthful, youthful operators? Oh, got it. It's like my cousin Vinnie to youths. Oh, oh, yeah, well, we're max is 15 now, so we're about to have to figure that out. Yep, I'm all about a electric bike for him. Is there bicycle insurance?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, there actually is e-bikes.
Speaker 2:Max is getting involved in podcasting over at the high school, so, like the amount of times I have embarrassed him on this podcast, I think he's gonna try to get me back. So yeah, it's coming I know now he's gonna have power over me. Is there anything else that you that's just on your mind, that you want to share with the public, or I?
Speaker 1:Think I just want everybody to know that it's it's a statewide issue and everybody's in it together. There's not a single person that's not affected. That what's going on in the state. Yeah, there are a lot of us that are working behind the scenes, talking legislatures, trying to figure out, you know, what can be done. Yeah, to help make Louisiana more attractive to more carriers, we definitely have to do tort reform. There's some current laws on the books that Protect the consumer but hurt the carrier In one way and then, at the same time, that same law can help the carrier and hurt the insurance, depending on how it's dissected and taken apart.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it's like you don't want insurance to have supreme power over you, right? But?
Speaker 1:it's, it's a happy medium that you have to try to find, and it's not easy. It's. It's not black and white. There's, and there's a lot of work to be done To protect everybody.
Speaker 2:Are there any legislators at the forefront of this that are just bringing the best ideas?
Speaker 1:Senator Talbot's working on it with us a lot. He's the head of the insurance committee, um, but my suggestion is to look up who your local Legislator and senators and contact them, email them. Email their office and tell them that you're having trouble with the rates. That's unaffordable. It's affecting your livelihood. Yeah, you love Louisiana. You want to stay here, but they're making it really difficult to do so. Yeah, and the more they hear from all of us about what's going on and how it's impacting their lives, the more they're gonna be willing to work hard on our behalf.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm. All right, yeah, it's an excellent place to leave it. That is it for this week's episode of porch in Paris. The podcast with the net castelló. It's been a pleasure to have you here today. Need to get in touch with the net. Call her at 225 654 2313. That's 225 654 2313. Or email her at dinette at Castello, agency comm. That's dinette D8 and E TT. E at castello to L's agency. Calm, huge shout out to our community partners, like the Zachary Community School District, who stand with us in our mission to make Zachary a place where every Resident feels heard and engaged. Thanks to the generosity and support of our community partners, the magazine, the podcast and everything you see online is possible and free because of them. And the 3 t is that make up quality of life, pick up trash when you see it, foster technology at any expense and embrace an attitude of tolerance for diverse voices to begin to engage Everyone's talents in our community. Those voices are the creative engines that will drive the future success of our economy. Till next time, bye, bye, oh.
