Commissioner Donelon and Department of Revenue Deputy Assistant Secretary Matherne Urge Property Owners

Commissioner Donelon and Department of Revenue Deputy Assistant Secretary Matherne Urge Property Owners
to Claim Citizens Rebate Before December 31 Deadline

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon and Department of Revenue Deputy Assistant Secretary Gary Matherne are urging those who have had a property and casualty insurance policy on their property during the last four years to claim the rebate for the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) Assessment charged on their insurance policy. December 31, 2011, is the deadline to claim assessments paid for 2007. Eleven million or 16 percent of the $70 million Citizens Assessment for 2007 has not been claimed.

Currently, almost $268.5 million or 58 percent of the total rebate amount currently available for 2007 through 2011 has not been claimed by individuals. “Claiming the rebate is simple,” said Commissioner Donelon. “Just fill out the Louisiana Department of Revenue tax form for the year in which you paid the Citizens Assessment and mail or fax it in with your insurance declaration page showing the assessment has been included in the insurance premium. The whole process doesn’t take more than ten minutes.”

There is a deadline fast approaching for individuals to claim the rebates. People and businesses have until December 31, 2011, to claim the Citizens Assessment paid in 2007. This can be claimed by completing the Department of Revenue 2007 Form R-540INS.

A copy of the insurance policy declaration page showing proof of the assessment amount must be attached to the form. You can choose to claim the rebate as soon as you pay the insurance premium that includes the Citizens assessment or when filing the State Tax Return due each May. Be sure not to claim the rebate on both the INS form and the tax return since this will delay your refund. The Department of Revenue (LDR) reminds individuals not to claim the total insurance premium, only the Citizens Assessment. This will delay the refund as well. LDR recommends that those who pay the Citizens Assessment on more than one property to send in a single INS form for all properties each year rather than a separate INS form for each property. An R-INS Supplement form should be used for more than one property. Otherwise the second claim will automatically be delayed for review.

Below is a chart showing the available unclaimed rebate amounts listed by year:

Citizens Assessments Unclaimed as of November 1, 2011

Year	Assessment Amount Collected	Dollar Amount Claimed with LDR	Dollar Amount Left Unclaimed	Percent Dollar Amount Unclaimed
2007	$70,164,783	$59,164,188	$11,000,595	15.67%
2008	$100,234,934	$46,708,756	$53,526,178	54.40%
2009	$107,958,525	$49,935,379	$58,023,146	53.74%
2010*	$102,472,710	$40,981,124	$61,491,586	60.00%
2011*	$85,000,000	$529,714	$84,470,286	99.37%
Total	$465,830,952	$197,319,161	$268,511,791	57.64%

*Incomplete data due to additional time to file available

The tax forms are available from the Department of Insurance home page at www.ldi.la.gov by clicking on the newsreel link, “Louisiana Citizens Insurance Tax Credit.”

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