The insurance industry's reaction to Hurricane Katrina was insufficient and, in some cases, only made the situation worse for policyholders, charges a report by Americans for Insurance Reform. Insurer trade groups denied there was any failure, with the American Insurance Association dismissing the study as "untrue, irresponsible and reckless."

Joanne Doroshow, one of AIR's co-founders and the executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy, said the report "shows that many policyholders who were exhausted, traumatized, and without food, water or a roof over their heads looked to their insurance carriers to come to their aid as they struggled to survive. But what many found was not help at all but rather resistance by insurance companies to pay them anything, leaving the victims frustrated and angry, not to mention destitute."

AIR said its report–"The Insurance Industry's Troubling Response to Hurricane Katrina"–was based on "hundreds of calls" to its toll-free hotline established Sept. 12, 2005.