A state congressman has called for a federal investigation into the actions of insurers in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Mississippi Congressman Gene Taylor has called for a congressional investigation on the industry's actions over the hurricane which was the biggest insured loss in history.

He lost is own home in the storm and believes the industry did not come to the aid of its policyholders in a time of dire need.

He has written to the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, Barney Frank, to ask for hearings on "the denial of thousands of Katrina wind claims wherever insurers could blame flooding'' and "excessive premium increases, market withdrawals, and other actions to force states to make concessions or to assume more coastal risks''.

"I have long suspected that State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide and a few other insurers agreed to aggressively deny Katrina wind claims as they had never done before,'' Taylor wrote. "One company would not have been able to get away with blanket denials if the others had been paying claims.

"Thousands of homes were battered by four or five hours of hurricaneforce winds before the surge inundation,'' he added.