Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon Names David Thomas As CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation
Jun 28, 2013
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon announced today, June 28, 2013, that he has named David Thomas as the new Chief Executive Officer of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (“Citizens”), the state’s market of last resort for property insurance.
According to a news release issued by the Louisiana Insurance Department, Mr. Thomas has nearly 40 years of experience in the insurance industry and has served in the positions of CEO, Chief Financial Officer, and President of various insurance groups. He has worked in a variety of disciplines, including finance, operations, customer service and information technology for companies ranging from start-ups to established organizations.
“Dave had all of the qualifications we were looking for in the CEO of Citizens,” Commissioner Donelon said. “His varied executive experience will prove to be a real asset and he has a proven track record of developing a strategic vision and executing it successfully, which will serve Citizens well.”
Mr. Thomas comes to Louisiana from Indiana, where he had been serving as President and CEO of Silveus Insurance Partners. He joined Silveus in 2010 in that role. Over the last three years, he has restructured company representation, adding several key commercial markets and implementing the first-ever customer service standards.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the Honeywell Institute of Information Science and Purdue University.
According to state law and Citizens’ operating policies, Commissioner Donelon is responsible for hiring and terminating top-level managers at the state-run insurer of last resort. Mr. Thomas’ compensation package will be presented for approval to Citizens’ Board of Directors at its meeting in July.
Richard Robertson, who served as president of Citizens since July 2010, announced his retirement in March. Under his leadership, Citizens experienced a significant depopulation in policies, dropping from 5.3 percent in the homeowners market share in 2010, to 2.9 percent in 2012, thus demonstrating that more homeowners are finding insurance in the private market. He also recently implemented measures to reduce costs by bringing underwriting and claims handling in-house.
“Dick has been a strong leader for Citizens and his stewardship and professionalism have really been held in high regard both here in Louisiana and nationally,” said Commissioner Donelon. “Dick leaves Citizens in a more stable position than it was when he arrived and I thank him for all of his contributions.”
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