Real Reform Louisiana

Shocking investigation exposes a dangerous reality on America’s highways.

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:39:22 GMT

Shocking investigation exposes a dangerous reality on America’s highways.

60 Minutes shared the findings of an 8-month investigation into a dangerous scheme that is putting all of us at risk on the road.

Trucking companies are racking up major safety violations—then shutting down and reopening under new names to avoid accountability.

Others are pushing drivers beyond legal limits, skipping inspections, and cutting corners—all to maximize profits while putting Louisiana families at risk.

Let that sink in.

These aren’t accidents. These are dangerous business decisions that put their profits ahead of your safety. And when tragedy strikes, guess what happens next?

The trucking industry—and their insurance allies—turn around and try to pass laws that make it harder for victims to hold them accountable and put caps on what they can recover.

That’s exactly what we’re seeing in Louisiana. The trucking industry and big insurance are blaming the victims—not the perpetrators of this grotesque, dangerous scheme.

When lawmakers weaken your legal rights, they’re not just changing laws on paper—they’re tilting the system in favor of the very companies that cut corners and endanger lives.

Because without strong legal accountability:

Unsafe companies face fewer consequences
Victims have fewer options
And justice becomes harder to obtain

Because here's the truth they don't want you to know: Your rights are the only thing that forces these companies to act responsibly. They’re the mechanism of justice that gives families a path to accountability and recovery when the unthinkable happens.

That's what insurers and the trucking industry want to take away.

We can’t let that happen.

Powerful Testimony Defeats Big Insurance in Louisiana Capitol

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:34:01 GMT

Powerful testimony defeats big insurance.

Dawn lost her three youngest children. Katie lost her brother and two sisters. They were killed by a drunk driver on their way home from a basketball game.

Then, unbelievably, big insurance pushed a bill that would have capped what families like theirs could recover after a tragedy like this.

That bill, HB 526 authored by Rep. Kelly Dickerson, would have limited recoverable damages for victims to $500,000—even in the most devastating cases.

Big insurance companies and their allies pushed this idea, falsely claiming it would lower costs. But when Dawn and Katie spoke out, the truth became clear: this bill would have forced victims to accept an arbitrary limit on their loss and put a price on human life.

Katie put it plainly: no amount of money can replace what her family lost—but this bill would have forced them to put a price on it.

And in the end, their voices made the difference.

The House committee voted down the bill , rejecting this attempt to cap justice for Louisiana families. It’s a powerful reminder that real people—not insurance companies—should shape the laws that impact our lives.

And it shows that when we fight back, we can win. Stay engaged. Stay involved. Because the fight to strengthen consumer protections and victims' rights is not over.

Watch local news coverage of the hearing here .

Oklahoma's lawsuit should get Louisiana lawmakers’ attention.

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 14:11:36 GMT

Oklahoma's lawsuit should get Louisiana lawmakers’ attention.

With Louisiana’s legislative session underway and insurance top of mind, a major lawsuit filed in neighboring Oklahoma should raise serious questions for lawmakers concerned about the insurance industry’s conduct here at home.

Republican Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a lawsuit accusing State Farm of using internal practices designed to systematically reduce payments to homeowners with legitimate storm damage claims. The lawsuit alleges the company collected premiums from policyholders while minimizing what it paid out when those same customers filed claims.

Attorney General Drummond described the alleged conduct in stark terms:

“What we have here is what I believe is an intentional scheme to defraud customers… a scheme of deception.”

The case centers on how claims were handled after severe storms damaged homes across Oklahoma. According to the lawsuit, company practices may have been used to reduce payouts to policyholders who relied on their insurance to repair storm damage.

For Louisiana families—many of whom suffered through Hurricanes Laura and Ida—this story hits close to home.

We already face some of the highest insurance costs in the country, and many homeowners report delayed claims, denied payments, or settlements that fall far short of what it takes to rebuild after severe storms.

The same insurance companies operating in Oklahoma operate here.

In fact, State Farm is the largest home insurer in Louisiana, covering roughly one-fifth of the market.

That’s why transparency, accountability, and strong consumer protections matter more now than ever.

What’s unfolding in Oklahoma is a warning Louisiana lawmakers gathered in Baton Rouge should take seriously—because what’s happening there is on Louisiana’s doorstep.

Big Insurance said they were struggling. But Profits Don't Lie.

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 16:26:43 GMT

Big Insurance said they were struggling. The numbers tell a different story.

For years, big insurance companies have told Louisiana families the same thing: the business climate here is “unfavorable.” They blamed consumers and the courts, claiming there were too many claims and too much litigation. And on that basis, insurers raised rates, restricted claims, and pushed to strip away consumers' legal rights.

Now the truth is coming out.

State Farm — the largest auto insurer in Louisiana, covering roughly 30% of the market — is paying out a $5 billion dividend nationwide. That includes $136 million back to Louisiana drivers , averaging about $138 per vehicle.

We are happy that some of that money is going back to consumers, but why are they paying out a dividend? Because their underwriting profits were stronger than expected.

In plain English, they collected WAY more in premiums than they needed to pay claims.

In 2025 alone, State Farm reported $1.5 billion in underwriting profit . But here's the kicker: underwriting or selling policies isn't even the main way insurers make money. They make most of their profits by investing the premiums you pay for insurance. And in 2025, State Farm made another $7 billion from investments and other income .

Struggling companies don't make $8.5 billion in profit in a single year — and they don't issue massive rebates.

The insurance industry is not being crushed by an “oppressive environment” in Louisiana. They are doing very well. Louisiana families are being crushed by unaffordable insurance rates. And we deserve better.

We deserve honesty. We deserve accountability. Louisiana families deserve rates based on facts — not fear.

It’s time to stop protecting insurance company profits and start protecting policyholders.

Why Property Insurance Rates Continue to Rise in Louisiana.

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 18:55:03 GMT

Why Property Insurance Rates Continue to Rise in Louisiana.

Louisiana property insurance rates spiked by 4.4% in 2025 , resulting in a $135 million increase for policyholders statewide. Louisiana policyholders already pay the second-highest rates in the nation, at more than $3,800 above the national average.

Why are property insurance rates continuing to climb in Louisiana? Because state regulators are ignoring the real problem. They are regulating the people of Louisiana, not the insurance industry.

After Hurricanes Laura and Ida, 11 insurance companies collapsed — forcing stranded storm victims to go to court to recover what they were owed.

Why did these companies go insolvent? Before the storms, those companies moved hundreds of millions of dollars off the books to unregulated affiliates, where they purchased executive perks like a $5.7 million hunting lodge. Their greed came first. Policyholders were an afterthought.

While that was the most egregious behavior, other insurers routinely delayed and denied claims, sending victims through a maze of adjusters and paperwork. According to a 2022 survey by LSU , roughly half of all Louisiana residents were dissatisfied with how insurance companies handled property damage claims.

Instead of demanding accountability from bad-faith insurers, Commissioner Temple has blamed storm victims at every turn.

In a recent interview , Commissioner Temple chose to victim-blame Louisiana families. He said catastrophe-related litigation was a key driver in rising home insurance premiums, ignoring that the spike in litigation following the storms was due to bad-faith insurers failing to handle claims properly.
In 2024, Temple declined to punish 17 shady insurers that generated an unusually high volume of complaints from policyholders after Hurricane Ida.
Temple’s legislative packages have all focused on regulating the people of Louisiana by stripping away their legal rights, rather than the industry he was elected to regulate on their behalf.

Commissioner Temple’s approach to Louisiana’s insurance crisis has made it harder for storm victims to file claims and easier for insurance companies to delay and deny claims, or cancel policies.

Home insurers operating in Louisiana denied 44.6% of claims filed in 2024, according to Weiss Ratings .
According to a recent poll , 85% of respondents say Louisiana’s insurance market is “poor” or “very poor.” Another survey shows that two-thirds of respondents saw a premium increase, roughly 50% struggled to find coverage, and approximately 1 in 10 reported having their policy cancelled by their insurer.
Meanwhile , home insurers operating in Louisiana have invested your premium dollars to the tune of $88.3 billion and reported just $1.6 billion in underwriting losses, meaning they made $55 in profit for every dollar they lost.

As a former insurance executive, Temple sees Louisiana’s insurance crisis through the lens of the insurance industry. Temple is blind to the plight of Louisiana policyholders. With the legislative session upon us, Louisiana policyholders need the legislature to step forward and pass common-sense laws that hold insurers accountable, strengthen consumer protections, and lower rates.

Insurers Use Credit to Increase Home Insurance Rates in Louisiana

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 15:05:43 GMT

Credit penalties are jacking up home insurance rates that are crushing Louisiana policyholders.

Year after year, the insurance industry opposes real insurance reforms that would lower rates by prohibiting insurers from penalizing Louisiana policyholders with poor credit. And year after year, the Louisiana legislature sides with industry, rejecting these basic consumer protections.

Now, the Consumer Federation of America has published a bombshell report that calculates the price Louisiana policyholders pay for Commissioner Temple’s and the legislature’s allegiance to big insurance.

According to the report, home insurance companies operating in Louisiana mark up home insurance policies an average of $3,754 for customers with poor credit; that’s an 87% increase. For those with middling credit, there is an increase of $1,503, a 35% increase.

Home insurance should be based on risk, not credit. The tactic is particularly harmful in Louisiana, where we have the second-lowest average credit score . This unjust tactic unfairly penalizes individuals with poor credit, resulting in outrageous home insurance premiums in Louisiana that significantly exceed the risks associated with the policy.

Louisianans can no longer afford to listen to the insurance industry. We are putting the fox in charge of the hen house. Louisiana desperately needs real insurance reforms that lower rates, protect consumers, and hold big insurance companies accountable.

Real Reform Louisiana is a member of the Consumer Federation of America.

Report: Temple Got Nearly 75% of Campain Funds from Insurance Industry

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 13:25:33 GMT

Is Louisiana in Good Hands with Commissioner Temple?

Commissioner Tim Temple received nearly 75% of his campaign contributions from the insurance industry, as reported in the Advocate-Times Picayune.

Commissioner Temple is a former insurance executive whose family owns an insurance company. Temple has pushed a radical anti-consumer agenda since being elected without opposition in 2023.

Temple lifted profit caps for insurers, made it easier for them to raise rates, deny claims, and cancel policies —all while pushing legislation that makes it harder for Louisiana policyholders to file claims and hold insurers accountable.

At the same time, insurance companies are reporting record profits. In 2024, the industry reported a 91% spike in profits, reaching a record $166.8 billion! In Louisiana, auto insurers had the third-highest profit in the country, while home insurers have reported $55 profit for every dollar lost since 2004.

In short, Big Insurance has gotten its money's worth.

Commissioner Temple’s job is to regulate the industry that funded his campaign. But instead of regulating insurance companies, Commissioner Temple has repeatedly pushed the industry’s agenda. Temple is regulating the people of Louisiana, making it harder for them to get claims paid and hold their insurer accountable. It’s a blatant conflict that should concern every Louisiana citizen and give pause to lawmakers following Temple off the tort reform cliff.

Louisiana Looks the Other Way While Southern States Push Back on Big Insurance

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 20:51:00 GMT

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Poor Regulation Leads to Unreliable Insurance Coverage in Louisiana

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 13:38:58 GMT

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5 Industry Bombshells Insurers are Hiding from Louisiana Policyholders

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 21:36:42 GMT

The truth about insurer profits in Louisiana.

Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple is a former insurance executive whose family owned an insurance company. Temple received nearly 75% of his campaign contributions from the insurance industry.

During this legislative session, Commissioner Temple has pushed a radical, pro-insurance agenda that pads insurer profits by stripping policyholders and accident victims of their rights. To advance that agenda, Commissioner Tim Temple has pushed misinformation about the profits of insurers operating in Louisiana.

Here are the facts about insurer profits in Louisiana:

As Warren Buffet (who owns GEICO) explains in this shareholder letter , auto insurance companies make most of their profits from investing your premium dollars, not underwriting insurance policies.
Nevertheless, Louisiana was one of 18 states to make an underwriting profit, according to the most recent NAIC profitability report.
Louisiana had the third-best underwriting profit nationally according to the report.
But investments are where they make the big bucks: According to a recent report from Weiss Ratings , auto insurers operating in Louisiana made $1.3 BILLION in investments between 2015-2024, which comes to $5.77 for every dollar lost in underwriting.
While the highest rates in the nation are a key chunk of insurers' big profits in Louisiana, another significant component is denying claims. Private passenger liability claims closed without payment has increased from 39.2% of total claims in 2015 to 45.2% in 2024, according to Weiss.

The truth is BIG INSURANCE COMPANIES are raking in record profits while Louisiana families and small businesses are paying unaffordable rates and seeing their claims denied at an alarming rate.

5 Shocking Facts About Louisiana's Insurance Market

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 21:30:11 GMT

5 Facts About Louisiana's Insurance Market.

1) High Rates: Louisianans pay the highest auto insurance premiums in the nation ($3,481 per year) and the 5th highest home insurance premiums ($4,291). - Marketwatch/Bankrate, June 2025

2) Huge Profits: Auto insurers operating in Louisiana have the 3rd highest underwriting profit in the country, meaning they charge high premiums and pay out less in claims. - NAIC, April 2025

3) $55 profits for every $1 lost: Since 2004, home insurers operating in Louisiana made $88.3 billion investing your premium dollars and reported just $1.6 billion in underwriting losses, meaning they made $55 profit for every dollar they lost. - Weiss, May 2025

4) Not paying Claims: Home insurers operating in Louisiana denied 44.6% of claims filed in 2024, which is significantly above the national average. Auto insurers denied 45.2% of private passenger liability claims in 2024. -Weiss, May 2025

5) Tort Reform Does Not Work: Rates are still high, insurers are making record profits, while denying claims at an alarming rate. It’s obvious: tort reform guts consumer protections to pad insurer profits.

Why Does Insurance Cost So Much in Louisiana?

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 21:27:53 GMT

Louisiana families struggle, as corporate fat cats live high on the hog!

The latest numbers are in, and they're appalling. In 2024, Property & Casualty insurers reaped a staggering $170 BILLION in profits —a 91% jump from 2023 and a jaw-dropping 330% surge from 2022! Meanwhile, their executives are rolling in dough, with 9 of the top home insurers' executives pocketing a whopping $310 MILLION in compensation.

Who's footing the bill?

Sadly, it is Louisiana policyholders . Louisianans pay the second-highest annual premium in the nation—with t hat number expected to rise another 27% by the end of 2025 . Nevertheless, year after year, the industry and its allies in the legislature pass tort reform laws that gut consumer protections. As a result, nearly half of all claims in Louisiana are closed without payment. Due to sky-high rates, a lax regulatory environment, and weak consumer protections, property insurers operating in Louisiana have raked in a shocking $55 in profit for every dollar they have lost over the last 20 years.

Moreover, automobile insurers in Louisiana are also making out like bandits, as rates are among the highest in the nation despite auto insurers operating in Louisiana having the 3rd highest profit and some of the best loss ratios in the country.

We cannot afford to sit idly by while Louisiana families and small businesses struggle to get by and these corporate fat cats live high on the hog!

Tort reform does not lower rates. It pads the profits of big insurers and stuffs the pockets of executives. We must pass real insurance reforms that lower rates, hold insurers accountable, and strengthen consumer protections.

Shocking Insurance Report in Louisiana Shows Tort Reform Does Not Work

Tue, 13 May 2025 13:24:31 GMT

Rates Continue to Climb as Claims Paid Decrease

Weiss Ratings, the nation's leading independent rating agency, issued a bombshell report that sheds light on "three alarming trends" with property insurers operating in Louisiana.

The big takeaway: Tort reform does not work. The central argument from proponents of tort reform is that cutting costs for insurers will result in savings for policyholders. However, the data suggests that insurers are closing a startling number of claims without payment as rates continue to climb. According to Insurify , Louisiana rates are expected to rise another 27% in 2025, following a 38% increase in 2024.

Additionally , Weiss Ratings found that eight property insurers who received taxpayer dollars through the Insure Louisiana Incentive Program "have a long history of poor business performance" and "above-average claims denials."

Three Alarming Trends

Insurance companies operating in Louisiana closed nearly half of homeowners' claims (44.6%) with no payment in 2024, which is significantly higher (+2.7%) than the national average and 18.9% higher than the national average in 2004. This highlights the devastating effects of tort reform. According to Weiss Ratings , seven companies operating in Louisiana closed more than 50% of their claims with no payment. Kin Insurance (68.3%) and Spinnaker Insurance (60.6%) closed more than 60% of claims with zero payment.
Insurance companies operating in Louisiana have raked in "$88.3 billion from investments and other sources," far exceeding their "$1.6 billion in underwriting losses," which insurers often use to justify rate increases and tort reforms that gut policyholders' rights. "That’s $55 in profits for each $1 of underwriting losses," according to Weiss.
Insurers operating in Louisiana moved $27.1 billion off the books to affiliates, effectively hiding these funds from regulators, lawmakers, and the ratepaying public. This could also account for a significant percentage of the underwriting losses reported by insurers operating in Louisiana.

“Louisiana homeowners are being shortchanged by insurers prioritizing profits,” said Dr. Martin D. Weiss, founder of Weiss Ratings. “Regulators must act, and homeowners should choose insurers with fair practices and strong ratings.”

Poor Stewards of Taxpayer Dollars

The Insure Louisiana Incentive Program used taxpayer dollars to encourage insurers to write policies in Louisiana, particularly in storm-prone areas and to help depopulate the rolls of Citizens, the insurer of last resort.

According to Weiss , the eight insurers approved to receive grant funds have reported "net underwriting losses of $357 million" over the last ten years.
These insurers have shifted $174 million in fees to affiliate companies, off the books and out of sight of regulators, which accounts for 48.4% of their total underwriting losses.
"On average, the eight companies closed 42.1% of claims with no payment in 2022, an even higher 45% in 2023, and an alarming 51.1% in 2024," according to Weiss. This disturbing trend demonstrates that insurers cannot be trusted to act in the public's interests with taxpayer dollars, as well as the devastating effects of tort reforms, which make it harder for policyholders to file claims.

"We've heard the insurance industry repeatedly promise that tort reforms will reduce costs and ultimately lead to savings for policyholders. Sadly, we have seen rates continue to climb as the number of claims paid decreases," said Ben Riggs, executive Director of Real Reform Louisiana. "We cannot continue to trust and cater to the insurance industry. Louisiana families and small businesses desperately need real insurance reforms that lower rates, protect policyholders, and hold insurers accountable."

Top 3 Reasons Louisiana Pays High Insurance Rates

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 21:48:40 GMT

Top 3 Reasons Louisiana Has High Insurance Rates

Louisiana is the most unaffordable state for insurance in the nation, with nearly $1 out of every $10 earned going to insurance costs. But why? Why are Louisianans forced to pay more for insurance than virtually every other state? Here are the top 3 reasons:

1) Regulators & lawmakers keep trying the same failed approach, expecting different results

Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple and his legislative allies continue to push tort reforms that make it harder for consumers to file claims and easier for insurers to deny claims. As has been demonstrated repeatedly, tort reform does not lower rates.

In 2020, we were promised a 25% reduction in auto rates when tort reform passed. Instead, rates skyrocketed. In 2024, Commissioner Temple passed a package of property insurance bills that made it easier for insurers to cancel policies, delay and deny claims, and weakened penalties for insurers acting in bad faith. Temple promised this would lead to more competition, which he claimed would lower rates. Instead, Insurify found that "Louisiana will see the largest cost increase of any state by the end of 2025, with rates expected to rise 27% — nearly $3,000 — to $13,937. This follows a 38% increase in home insurance premiums in 2024."

We are not playing the blame game, but Temple said if his 2024 package does not work we should blame him. That's why Temple tops our list.

2) The deck is stacked in favor of big insurance companies

A comprehensive study conducted by professors from Harvard and Columbia Schools of Business and a member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors found that “Higher [insurance] premiums are being charged in states where regulators apply less scrutiny to requests for rate increases.”

Louisiana law states that "no rate in a competitive market shall be considered excessive." Excessive is defined as "a rate that is likely to produce a long-term profit that is unreasonably high for the insurance provided." Therefore, Louisiana law allows insurers to charge policyholders astronomical rates that include excessive profits. In fact, one insurance expert who reviewed rate filings in Louisiana found "really, really high" profit factors that would be rejected in other states. Governor Jeff Landry supports HB 576 by Rep. Robbie Carter, which allows the Commissioner to reject excessive rates. Commissioner Temple opposes the legislation.

3) Storms

Everyone knows the threat severe poses to the people of Louisiana. Hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods have wreaked havoc across the state for as long as we can remember. Severe weather is, in fact, the number one driver of high insurance rates in Louisiana. Why are storms listed as number three? Because the people of Louisiana can contact their elected representatives and quickly address numbers one and two. Mitigating the risks posed by severe weather is a long-term solution.

Louisiana is behind the eight ball on risk mitigation, but the state is taking steps in the right direction. Louisiana has implemented a fortified roof program designed to upgrade our housing stock to ensure they can withstand hurricane-force winds. The program includes grants to incentivize homeowners to upgrade their roofs. However, the program needs a long-term funding solution with a requirement for insurers to provide a minimum discount for fortified roofs. Without the required discount, grants become taxpayer-funded efforts to reduce risks and pad profits for insurers.

Contact your lawmakers

Click here to contact your legislator s today and demand real insurance reforms that hold the insurance companies accountable, increase transparency, and lowers rates.

Report: Property Insurance Costs Going Up in Louisiana

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 19:11:07 GMT

Temple Continues Legacy of Broken Tort Reform Promises.

Commissioner Tim Temple is once again before the legislature pushing a radical package of tort reform measures that will gut consumer protections and strip policyholders of their rights.

Temple took this same approach last year. Did it work? Well, the results are in, and they could not be more disappointing for rate-payers in the Bayou State.

According to a new report from Insurify , "Louisiana will see the largest cost increase of any state by the end of 2025, with rates expected to rise 27% — nearly $3,000 — to $13,937. This follows a 38% increase in home insurance premiums in 2024."

Homeowners in Louisiana are expected to pay roughly four times the national average for home insurance in 2025. This comes after Temple fleeced Louisiana policyholders of their rights and protections last year.

In 2024, Commissioner Temple repealed Louisiana's three-year rule, making it easier to cancel or non-renew property insurance policies. He also made it easier to delay and deny claims, and weakened penalties for those acting in bad faith. All this was, according to Temple, designed to make Louisiana more attractive to insurers, increase competition, and drive down prices.

Temple's plan is another failed promise of tort reform—and we cannot afford to follow him off the cliff again!

Louisiana knows all too well about tort reform's broken promises. Similar measures passed in 2020 were promised to lower auto insurance premiums in Louisiana by as much as 25%. Unfortunately, auto insurance premiums have skyrocketed every year since.

Louisiana is the most unaffordable state for insurance in the nation , with nearly $1 out of every $10 earned going to insurance costs. Louisiana cannot afford more failed promises. We need real insurance reforms that lower costs, protect consumers, and hold big insurance companies accountable.

Real Reform Louisiana supports legislation currently before the Louisiana legislature that empowers the Commissioner to reject excessive rates, demands more transparency, and prohibits the use of credit scores in rate-making.

Excessive Rates & Lax Regulation

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 18:45:40 GMT

Louisiana Senate Debates Lax Regulation and Excessive Insurance Rates

The Senate Insurance Committee met on Friday, March 14th. There was a robust discussion between Senator Royce Duplessis and Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple about the commissioner's authority, following previous testimony that Louisiana's lax laws do not allow the commissioner to reject rate increases for being excessive.

This conversation is important because Louisiana is among the most expensive states in the country for insurance, with nearly 10% of median household income going to insurers.

The Law

The statute in question is LA Rev Stat § 22:1452 (C)(6) , which states that "no rate in a competitive market shall be considered excessive."

Furthermore, the statute defines "excessive" as "a rate that is likely to produce a long-term profit that is unreasonably high for the insurance provided."

Commissioner Temple's Previous Testimony

In a prior meeting of the Joint Insurance Committee , Commissioner Temple stated that "The Department's role is to look at it [rate filing] and make sure the actuary's work matches; that the numbers add up...We look at it to make sure the rate is adequate and not unduly discriminatory...Our role is not to look and determine whether we think it is right or high or low...If you will, it's to check their math."

He repeated that sentiment, reading from a written statement to kick off the March 14th hearing, that "my role is to ensure that property & casualty rates are adequate, actuarily justified, and not unduly discriminatory."

These comments are consistent with the authority granted to the commissioner by Louisiana law.

Does Louisiana have a competitive market?

Louisiana law plainly states that "no rate in a competitive market shall be considered excessive."

So Senator Duplessis twice asked Commissioner Temple if Louisiana's market was competitive. Both times Temple responded that Louisiana has a competitive market, though he would like more competition.

Commissioner Temple has repeatedly said that Louisiana's high insurance rates were due to a lack of competition and used this claim to promote industry-friendly legislation that strips policyholders of their rights.

Has Commissioner Temple ever rejected a rate for being excessive?

Senator Duplessis also asked Commissioner Temple and his staff multiple times if the Department of Insurance has rejected any rate increases for being excessive.

Nichole Torblaa, the department's Chief Actuary, said, "We have deemed rates to be not actuarily justified."

Later the department's deputy general counsel interrupted Commissioner Temple to clarify his comments after Temple claimed he had the authority to reject an excessive rate: "He's using the word excessive because you are, but what he's referring to is a high rate not comparable to the risk, which ends up being not actuarily justified."

This was a theme throughout the hearing. Commissioner Temple repeatedly conflated the terms "excessive" and "actuarily justified."

Profits

“They don’t lie; they just don’t tell you unless you ask the right set of questions. The regulator won’t necessarily know what the insurance company is doing or what goes into their models. Heck, we don’t even know half the models’ names.” - Rich Piazza, former chief actuary for the Louisiana Department of Insurance

Piazza's quote demonstrates the problem with a lax regulatory system that simply checks insurer's math. Big insurance companies employ armies of actuaries and lawyers who know how to build complex mathematical models that can justify any rate.

Moreover, immediately after taking office, Commissioner Temple eliminated an internal rule that capped the amount of expected profit insurers could build into rate filings with the state.

With no regulatory authority to reject excessive rates and no caps on expected profits, it is not surprising that expert testimony before the Senate Judiciary A committee revealed that some of the rate filings reviewed in Louisiana contained "really, really high" profit factors.

As a result, Louisiana's personal auto insurance loss ratios (proxies for profit) were 9% better than the national average in 2023, and at least 5% better than each of our neighboring states: Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas.

It is also consistent with a detailed joint study from faculty at Harvard and Columbia, and a member of the Fed Reserve Board of Governors that found “higher [insurance] premiums are being charged in states where regulators apply less scrutiny to requests for rate increases.”

Click here to watch the entire hearing from March 14, 2025.

Click here to read expert's bombshell report on Louisiana's insurance crisis.

2025 Louisiana Legislative Primer on Insurance

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 15:36:53 GMT

2025 Legislative Primer.

The 2025 Louisiana Legislative Session begins Monday, April 14, 2025. Insurance is again at the forefront, but this time Commissioner Temple and his legislative allies are focused on auto insurance. Temple is touting a package of bills that promise to further stack the deck in favor of big insurance at the expense of Louisiana policyholders.

Here is an overview of Louisiana's insurance crisis and the industry's continued efforts to profit off of policyholders' pain.

Competitiveness

Commissioner Temple has repeatedly stated that Louisiana's insurance market is non-competitive. To attract more insurance companies to Louisiana, Temple wants to pass legislation that guts policyholders' rights and benefits insurers.

However, an industry expert and former Missouri Insurance Commissioner recently testified before the Louisiana legislature, stating that the structure and number of companies participating in Louisiana's personal auto insurance market "is squarely in the national mainstream."

Click here to read more about the competitiveness of Louisiana's auto insurance market.

Profitability

Commissioner Temple and his legislative allies have repeatedly suggested that insurers in Louisiana are struggling to turn a profit. However, the data suggests otherwise.

Insurers do not report their profits. Instead, they report loss ratios, which are proxies for profit. Loss ratios show the percentage of losses an insurance company pays out compared to the premiums it collects. The lower the ratio, the more the profit.

Louisiana personal auto insurance loss ratios were 9% better than the national average in 2023, and at least 5% better than each of our neighboring states: Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas. These strong profit margins are largely driven by the fact that insurers in Louisiana collect among the highest premiums in the nation.

Click here to read more about the profitability of Louisiana's auto insurance market.

Why are rates so high if the market is competitive and insurers are making a profit?

According to expert testimony before the Louisiana legislature, high insurance rates in Louisiana are due to severe weather and industry-friendly lax regulations.

Louisiana law allows the commissioner to reject a rate for being too low, but it does not grant the commissioner sole authority to reject a rate for being excessive. In fact, Commissioner Temple testified that it is not the role of the Department of Insurance to determine whether rates are excessive.

According to testimony, some of the rates insurers filed with the Louisiana Department of Insurance included "really, really high" profit factors. Not surprising when you recall that Commissioner Temple repealed profit caps on rates filed by insurers with the State of Louisiana.

These findings are consistent with a Harvard School of Business report that found “higher [insurance] premiums are being charged in states where regulators apply less scrutiny to requests for rate increases.”

Click here to read more about how lax regulation contributes to high rates in Louisiana.

Why is Commissioner Temple and Big Insurance pushing Florida's failed model?

Florida has the highest property and auto insurance rates in the nation. Florida auto insurance rates have increased 42% since 2022, when the pro-industry package passed. Since the passage of these bills, we have seen:

Pro-industry lawmakers in Florida seek to take advantage of the new laws, pushing a new insurance company, promising a 165% return on investment over 5 years.
Insurers have exploited the lack of transparency and accountability. "As Florida insurance companies were going bankrupt, policies were getting dropped and homeowners were being left empty-handed, a new report says many of those companies were making billions."
Buyer remorse: "Florida legislators have introduced bills that would amend state insurance laws," aimed "to enhance consumer protections while increasing regulatory oversight of insurance carriers operating in the state."
The people of Florida will vote on "a newly proposed amendment to the State Constitution" that would "protect consumers from seeing their policies canceled."

Louisiana Can't Afford to Follow Florida's Broken Insurance Model

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 16:27:26 GMT

Florida's failed model won't work in Louisiana.

Louisiana's insurance crisis is crushing working families and small businesses. Property and auto insurance premiums are soaring while the Bayou State's loss ratios (a proxy for insurer profits) are among the best in the nation. Nevertheless, Commissioner Tim Temple, his allies in the legislature, and the insurance industry continue to push anti-consumer legislation that makes it harder for policyholders to file a claim with no promise of lowering rates.

Proponents of these bills that stack the deck further in favor of big insurance routinely cite the recent "reforms" enacted in Florida. So, let's set the record straight about Florida.

Florida's reforms failed

According to Insurance Business Magazine , insurers are seeking a 50% premium hike in Florida. Moreover, "Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is set to increase rates for most policyholders in Florida, despite recent statements from Gov. Ron DeSantis suggesting that the insurer would implement statewide premium decreases."

Florida lawmakers stacked the deck in favor big insurance, then asked to be dealt a hand at policyholder's expense

Immediately after passing the industry-friendly package, some Florida lawmakers began pitching "a proposal to invest in a new homeowners insurance company, according to a Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times story. The pitch comes with an impressive projected return on investment of 165% over five years."

Insurers lied to lawmakers and policyholders, pocketing billions while claiming losses

Insurers exploited the lack of transparency and accountability. "As Florida insurance companies were going bankrupt, policies were getting dropped and homeowners were being left empty-handed, a new report says many of those companies were making billions."

Lawmakers looking to roll back failed reforms

Having realized their extreme reforms hurt policyholders, "Florida legislators have introduced bills that would amend state insurance laws," aimed "to enhance consumer protections while increasing regulatory oversight of insurance carriers operating in the state."

The people of Florida are fed up

The average home insurance policy is more than $8,000 higher in Florida than the national average. Unable to afford these unaffordable rates, Florida voters are looking to "take the power of lowering insurance premiums into their own hands." They will vote on "a newly proposed amendment to the State Constitution would also protect consumers from seeing their policies canceled."

Louisiana cannot afford to follow Florida's failed model

Louisianans are already paying more of their income on insurance than any other state. Working families and small businesses cannot afford to continue pursuing changes that benefit big insurance at their expense.

Big Insurance's Louisiana Boondoggle.

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 18:15:19 GMT

Big Insurance's Louisiana Boondoggle.

Former Missouri State Insurance Commissioner Jay Angoff recently testified before the Louisiana Senate Judiciary A Committee. The former commissioner reviewed data provided by insurance companies to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The hearing and most of the data presented focused on personal and commercial auto insurance.

A key takeaway on personal auto from the NAIC data was that Louisiana's insurance market is competitive and profitable. This revelation was particularly interesting because it undercuts Commissioner Tim Temple's analysis of the Louisiana insurance market and his legislative agenda.

Commissioner Temple has repeatedly stated: "If we get more companies in Louisiana, then that helps solve issue number one which is availability. Once you have more companies in Louisiana, that helps work on problem number two which is affordability.”

Yet, the data presented by former Commissioner Angoff painted an entirely different picture.

Competition is not the issue .

For starters, while rates in Louisiana are among the highest in the nation, Mr. Angoff's report suggests that the structure and number of companies participating in Louisiana's personal auto insurance market "is squarely in the national mainstream."

He goes on to say that "nationally and in all but three states, the four largest carriers have more than 50% of the personal auto insurance market. The four largest carriers nationally are State Farm, Progressive, GEICO and Allstate, and they account for the majority of the market both nationally and in 15 states, including Louisiana." In addition to the big four, there are 6 other insurers accounting for 94.14% of the market share with smaller companies comprising the remaining 5.86%.

Profitability is not the issue .

To put it simply, auto insurance is profitable in Louisiana. Mr. Angoff states in his report that "in addition to being lower than the countrywide average in both 2022 and 2023, the personal auto loss ratio was lower in Louisiana than in any of the three states bordering Louisiana in 2023, while in 2022 it was lower than it was in Arkansas and Texas, and ½ of a point higher than it was in Mississippi."

Insurers enjoy lower loss ratios but aren't passing savings onto policyholders.

The report not only notes the low loss ratios in Louisiana, but the downward trend: "In 2023 the private passenger auto loss ratio dropped substantially—by almost five points countrywide, from 80.15 to 75.41. But the Louisiana private passenger auto loss ratio fell by even more: by 8.72 points, to 66.27. That 66.27 loss ratio was 9.14 points lower than the 75.41 countrywide average." Yet, auto insurance rates in Louisiana rose by 24% in Louisiana, according to Kiplinger .

Why are rates high? Because Louisiana allows insurers to charge excessive rates!

Jay Angoff explains that Louisiana law allows the commissioner to reject a rate for being too low, but does not grant the commissioner sole authority to reject a rate for being excessive. Mr. Angoff also explains that he found "really, really high" profit factors in rate filing he reviewed in Louisiana.

This is consistent with a Harvard School of Business report that found “higher [insurance] premiums are being charged in states where regulators apply less scrutiny to requests for rate increases.”

In fact, Commissioner Temple has said himself that he does not believe it is the Department of Insurance's role to tell insurers their rates are too high.

Watch Jay Angoff's complete testimony here.
Read Mr. Angoff's complete report here.

Expert, Former Commissioner Testifies on Louisiana's Insurance Market.

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 18:06:55 GMT

Expert, Former Commissioner Testifies on Louisiana's Insurance Market.

Former Missouri State Insurance Commissioner Jay Angoff recently testified before the Louisiana Senate Judiciary A Committee. The former commissioner reviewed Louisiana’s insurance regulations, other states’ laws, and information provided by insurance companies to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Mr. Angoff provided a detailed, data-filled report on Louisiana's insurance market. He explained how lax regulations that make Louisiana an extreme outlier contribute to high insurance rates. Additionally, he discussed the high returns insurers are seeing on policies in Louisiana and the massive profits rolling in on investments on their $1 trillion surplus.

Below are highlights from the hearing and a copy of Mr. Angoff's complete report and testimony.

Crisis for you, not them:
Commissioner Tim Temple and insurance lobbyists claim that insurers are struggling in Louisiana. But data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners suggest otherwise. Jay Agnoff explains that, while severe weather poses a major challenge, insurers are thriving on high rates and low loss ratios.

Litigation or Lax Regulation?
Angoff explains why high insurance rates in Louisiana are due to severe weather and industry-friendly lax regulations, not litigation in Louisiana. He cites a major actuarial study on Louisiana's insurance market conducted by major insurers to determine what impact legal reforms would have on rates. The study found that legal reforms would have virtually no impact on the cost of insurance for policyholders.

Expert Explains the Role Lax Regulation Plays in High Rates:
Jay Angoff explains that Louisiana law allows the commissioner to reject a rate for being too low, but does not grant the commissioner sole authority to reject a rate for being excessive. Mr. Angoff also explains that he found "really, really high" profit factors in rate filing he reviewed in Louisiana.

This is consistent with a Harvard School of Business report that found “higher [insurance] premiums are being charged in states where regulators apply less scrutiny to requests for rate increases.”

Insurance Business Revolves Around Investment Income, not Just Selling Policies:
Commissioner Temple, big insurance companies, and their lobbyists want policyholders to believe that the business of insurance revolves around selling policies. But that's only the beginning. Insurance companies are investment banks that write policies to finance their investments. Jay Angoff explains that insurers reported $88 Billion in investment income last year, a 126% increase and an 8.25% return on their $1 Trillion surplus!

Watch Jay Angoff's complete testimony here .
Read Mr. Angoff's complete report here .

Major Change in Louisiana Law Threatens to Worsen Insurance Crisis sent

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 17:58:22 GMT

New U.S. Senate Report Shines Light on Louisiana's Insurance Crisis.

In 2024, Commissioner Tim Temple and lawmakers repealed a crucial safeguard for Louisiana policyholders, allowing insurers to cancel home insurance policies at will. This alarming change took effect on January 1, 2025, leaving policyholders vulnerable.

Why is this important:
The increased threat of severe weather has led to a rampant increase in non-renewals nationwide. The New York Times reports that "since 2018, more than 1.9 million home insurance contracts nationwide have been dropped. In more than 200 counties, the nonrenewal rate has tripled or more." This is all according to findings in a new report from the U.S. Senate Budget Committee.

T h e report notes that "Florida and Louisiana — the top two states by non-renewal rate in 2023 — also experienced 280% and 267% increases, respectively, in non-renewal rate percent change from 2018 – 2023."

Lafourche, Terrebonne, and Jefferson Parishes have among the highest non-renewal rates in the nation for 2023. Orleans, Terrebonne, and Tangipahoa Parishes have suffered among the largest increase in non-renewals.

Conclusion:

This nationwide non-renewal trend is already hitting Louisiana hard. Commissioner Temple's new anti-consumer law threatens to exacerbate Louisiana's cancellation crisis, forcing more policyholders onto the state-backed insurer of last resort. This law prioritizes big insurance companies' profits over homeowners' protection.

“A Deliberate Scheme” - Insurance Companies Caught Cheating Storm Victims

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 06:27:41 GMT

Insurance Companies Caught Cheating Storm Victims

A shocking investigation by 60 Minutes exposes a widespread conspiracy by insurance companies to deceive and lowball storm victims. Licensed adjusters described it as a “deliberate scheme” committed by multiple insurance companies “over and over again” designed to mislead policyholders and reduce payouts.

Key allegations include:

Altered damage reports to reduce payouts
Deceptive tactics to misrepresent adjusters’ reports and conceal major changes by insurers
Illegally omitting damage from assessments
Systematic scheme to force policyholders into costly lawsuits

Insurers are effectively “playing the odds and winning”

The 60 Minutes exposé described a scheme designed to “make them make us pay” or, in other words, file a lawsuit. Insurance companies delay, deny, and lowball policyholders, knowing that people are reluctant to file a lawsuit. They are playing hardball with customers who have dutifully paid premiums for decades to reduce their payouts.

Insurance companies are weaponizing a crisis they created

This deceptive strategy not only pads insurer profits but also results in a spike in litigation, which the industry uses as leverage in state legislatures to strip away policyholders’ legal rights. Insurers abandoned Louisiana homeowners after hurricanes Laura, Ida, Delta, and Zeta. As a result, there was a spike in lawsuits from cheated policyholders. Commissioner Tim Temple and the industry have cited increased litigated claims to gut consumer protections and make it harder to sue insurers.

Call to Action

The people of Louisiana have no reason to trust insurance companies. Insurance companies pocketed the premiums they collected for decades and deserted Louisiana policyholders after the storms of 2020 and 2021. Commissioner Tim Temple and our elected representatives in the legislature work for the people of Louisiana, not big insurance companies. We desperately need real insurance reforms that lower costs, increase transparency, and hold insurers accountable when they act in bad faith.

Watch the entire 60 Minutes story on insurers deceiving and shortchanging policyholders here.

Report: Louisiana Pays Higher Premiums Due to Weak Consumer Protections

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 18:32:19 GMT

Are Louisiana Policyholders Subsidizing Insurer Profits in California with High Premiums?

“Higher [insurance] premiums are being charged in states where regulators apply less scrutiny to requests for rate increases,” according to new reporting from the New York Times.

Dr. Ishita Sen, a professor of finance at Harvard Business School, and her co-authors, Sangmin S. Oh and Ana-Maria Tenekedjieva, have uncovered a concerning trend. Homeowners in states with weak consumer protections may be significantly overpaying for property insurance, subsidizing homeowners in states with more robust consumer protections. In other words, ratepayers in Louisiana, where regulations are lax, could pay more for home insurance to pad the profits of insurers who struggle to raise rates in states like California, where consumer protections are stronger.

The consequences have been devastating for Louisiana families and small businesses.

“Across the more than 9,000 ZIP codes for which data was available, the typical American household last year paid about $500 in home insurance premiums for every $100,000 of home value, or 0.5 percent.”

However, your average policyholder in many California zip codes paid premiums as low as .05 percent of home value despite the state suffering over 7,000 wildfires last year.

Compare that with Louisiana, where in parts of the state, policyholders paid “insurance premiums greater than 2 percent of the value of local homes.”

According to the Times-Picayune | Advocate , “In 2020, the buyer of a median-priced home in New Orleans would pay about $1,400 a month in housing costs, assuming they put 20% down and paid an average rate for insurance from Louisiana Citizens, then about $142 a month...With increases in home insurance, flood insurance and interest rates, the same home would cost $2,154 a month now.”

As a result, a family that needed a $57,000 income to afford their home in 2020 would now need “north of $86,000 a year” in a metro area where the median household income is $61,602 per year.

To make matters worse, incoming Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple has worked to pass a series of industry-friendly bills while at the same time using his position to deregulate Louisiana’s insurance market. Temple lifted the cap on expected profits built into rates filed with the Department of Insurance and pushed for the passage of SB 295, which allows insurance companies to raise their rates more often, without prior approval of the Insurance Commissioner.

Commissioner Temple’s anti-consumer actions will result in more rate increases in Louisiana, padding the already massive profits for big insurance companies on the backs of families struggling to make ends meet.

Insurance Industry: "Credit Scores" Among Reasons for Louisiana's Rising Insurance Costs.

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 15:03:05 GMT

Insurance Industry: "Credit Scores" Among Reasons for Louisiana's Rising Insurance Costs.

A new report shows that auto insurance rates are skyrocketing, rising by 26% across the U.S. On average, Louisiana drivers pay $2,909 annually, roughly 6.53% of their income for auto insurance.

Wayne Watley at Watley Insurance Group lists “credit scores” among the reasons for Louisiana’s rising auto insurance costs, including poor roads and uninsured motorists.

Mr. Watley goes on to say, “It’s a challenge because we’re not one of the richest states, but we have some of the highest premiums.”

He is correct—and the data backs him up.

Insurance companies use credit scores to determine insurance rates for policyholders. Louisiana ranks 48th in median household income and 49th in average credit score . According to a recent study , safe drivers in Louisiana with poor credit pay 111% more than safe drivers with excellent credit ($1,505 / $713). Consequently, Louisiana has the second-highest auto insurance rates in the nation, which leads to more uninsured motorists, another primary cause of higher insurance rates.

The use of credit scores in rate setting also creates perverse incentive structures that make Louisiana roads less safe. In Louisiana, safe drivers with poor credit pay an average of $905 more than drivers with a DWI and excellent credit ($3,548 / $2,643). Meanwhile, traffic fatalities increased by 21% from 2019 to 2022 in Louisiana, and the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled increased by 18%, according to KPLC .

Louisiana desperately needs real insurance reforms that lower costs, protect consumers, hold insurers accountable, and make our roads safer.

Shady Insurance Companies Cause Collapse of Louisiana Insurance Market

benriggs09@gmail.com (Ben Riggs) — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 18:07:43 GMT

Louisiana Insurance News

Insurance lobbyists and industry-friendly lawmakers routinely say Louisiana needs to deregulate to become more attractive to insurers. But recent revelations make it clear that Louisiana needs more accountability and transparency when it comes to insurance, not less.

The Advocate's Sam Karlin recently published a four-part series on Louisiana's insurance crisis, detailing the dark truth behind the collapse of our insurance market ( Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 ).

Following Hurricanes Laura and Ida, eleven insurance companies went belly up. These companies "operated under a structure that sent hundreds of millions of dollars off the books of the insurer to less-regulated affiliates," according to the Advocate . One of the failed companies, Southern Fidelity, even purchased a $5.7 million hunting lodge , which company lawyers said the CEO and his family used as a “personal residence” for years.

The state eagerly welcomed these eleven insurers with loads of grant money and tens of thousands of policies from Citizens, the state's insurer of last resort. Consequently, when these eleven insurers failed, they comprised one-sixth of Louisiana's market.

Their collective failure had devastating effects on Louisiana's insurance market. Hundreds of thousands of Louisiana homeowners were burdened with sharp premium increases of up to 111% . Tens of thousands of storm victims were stuck in insurance purgatory, and Louisiana taxpayers were forced to cover tens of thousands of unpaid claims.

When these insurers collapsed, more than 41,000 unpaid claims were absorbed by the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA), a taxpayer-funded state nonprofit that handles ongoing claims from failed insurance companies. LIGA is expected to pay north of $1 billion in claims and premium refunds.

The Advocate also reports that 15,294 policyholders remain stuck in insurance purgatory, waiting for their claim to be paid. To make matters worse, LIGA is immune to attorney fees, so policyholders will never be made whole.

Moreover, according to the Advocate , Louisiana led the nation in 2022 in claims paid after 60 days, which resulted in more complaints against insurance companies and more litigation. A Louisiana Legislative Auditor found that 67% of complaints were settled in favor of the policyholder.

The delays, denials, and lowball offers from insurers have only exacerbated the suffering of Louisiana storm victims. The Department of Insurance has found that insurers have failed to follow state laws and forced policyholders to litigate their claims.

“Louisiana's insurance market collapsed, in part, because insurers comprising one-sixth of the market failed after sending hundreds of millions of dollars to unregulated, off-the-books affiliates, instead of paying claims for policyholders," said Ben Riggs, executive director of Real Reform Louisiana, a consumer advocacy group fight for insurance reforms. "Louisiana cannot afford to continue listening to the insurance industry about how to solve the insurance crisis. That's putting the fox in charge of the hen house. We must protect the rights of policyholders. Louisiana desperately needs real insurance reform that lowers rates, holds insurance companies accountable, and ensures transparency for policyholders.”

Click here to contact your legislator and demand change!

Read the four-part bombshell series from the Advocate below:

2024 Louisiana Insurance Primer

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 16:29:10 GMT

New Year, Same Problem

As we enter the new year, Louisiana faces a familiar crisis.

Property insurance rates are skyrocketing, rising 27% between May 2022 and May 2023 . Insurance companies universally state prices are going up and coverage is diminishing due to severe storms, the unpredictable nature of these storms, and the increased cost of repairs because of inflation.

While this crisis is driven by natural disasters, Louisiana's problem is man-made. We ignore the fact that big insurance companies want to exploit the crisis to increase their profits, and we continue to allow the insurance industry to dictate our solutions. Louisiana has put the fox in charge of the hen house.

Unfortunately, commissioner Tim Temple's agenda is more of the same. Temple wants to stack the deck more in favor of big insurance at the expense of Louisiana consumers by doing the following:

Weaken or eliminate the three-year rule
Make it harder to hold insurers accountable
Allow big insurance companies to cherry-pick where they write policies
Make it easier for insurers to delay and deny claims
Raise rates more often

These anti-consumer, pro-industry measures will not invite new insurers to write policies in Louisiana because they fail to address the weather-related reasons insurers are weary of Louisiana. Instead, Commissioner Temple's agenda benefits companies already in our state at the expense of Louisiana families and small businesses, leading to significant rate increases, diminished coverage, and making it harder for homeowners to hold their insurers accountable.

Big Insurance continues to rake in billions in profits, and Swiss Re projects these profits will increase in 2024 as a result of higher premiums, strong investment returns, and improved interest rates. We cannot allow insurance companies and industry-friendly officials to exploit natural disasters at the expense of homeowners.

Lower Rates by Mitigating Risks in 2024
Louisiana desperately needs solutions that lower rates and help hold big insurance companies accountable. We must upgrade our housing stock to better withstand hurricanes and mitigate the risk for insurers. We accomplish this goal by investing in and expanding the roof fortification program.

Louisiana families and small businesses cannot afford more industry-backed legislation designed to increase profits and strip consumer rights. Louisiana needs real reforms that lower costs, increase competition, and hold Big Insurance accountable.

Five Alarm Insurance Crisis; Regulators, Lawmakers Keep Pointing at Red Herring.

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 14:02:31 GMT

Five Alarm Insurance Crisis; Regulators, Lawmakers Keep Pointing at Red Herring.

Five large U.S. property insurers—including Allstate and Berkshire Hathaway (Geico)—have notified regulators that they will no longer be writing policies in some coastal regions or covering natural disasters and that they intend to raise premiums and deductibles. This is according to a bombshell report by the Washington Post.

The insurers cited more frequent extreme weather events as the cause for these changes—not litigation or the regulatory environment, as Commissioner Jim Donelon, industry-friendly lawmakers, and lobbyists routinely claim.

The Washington Post story is based on a survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, wherein big insurance companies state their plan to omit wind and hail damage from policies underwriting coastal properties. Respondents to the survey cover 80% of the U.S. Insurance market. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is an organization created and governed by the chief insurance regulators from the 50 states, including Louisiana Commissioner Jim Donelon.

"Commissioner Jim Donelon knows that more frequent, more powerful storms are the root cause," said Ben Riggs, Executive Director of Real Reform Louisiana. "Yet Commissioner Donelon and industry-friendly lawmakers continue to point the finger at storm victims for increased costs, diminished coverage, and a lack of availability, falsely claiming that policyholders holding their insurer accountable in court is the cause of our insurance crisis.

"Louisiana families are suffering a five-alarm insurance crisis," said Riggs. "As extreme weather increases their need for coverage, insurers are withdrawing from our state and pricing families out of their homes. Unfortunately, the elected officials charged with addressing the crisis are focused on scapegoating others , not real solutions."

Commissioner-elect Tim Temple has an opportunity to reset and offer solutions that address the underlying issues. Unfortunately, his agenda seems to be veering more and more towards the threadbare, industry-friendly policies backed by Donelon.

"Louisiana consumers need real leadership to reduce insurance costs and safeguard them from exploitation," said Michael DeLong, Research and Advocacy Associate at Consumer Federation of America. "Florida passed laws making it harder for consumers to hold insurers accountable, and yet their insurance costs are higher than ever. This focus on tort reform is a trick and won't meaningfully help policyholders."

The fact is more frequent and less predictable extreme weather is driving the insurance crisis in Louisiana. And we cannot resolve this crisis by continuing to point the finger at tort reform red herrings. We know tort reform does not work because we have all suffered its abysmal failure to lower auto insurance premiums in Louisiana.

Louisiana needs real reforms that actually increase competition and lower costs while recognizing the rights of policyholders and holding big insurance companies accountable. That means mitigating risk by addressing the underlying issues through more significant investments in storm mitigation, drainage, and efforts to fortify roofs.

Everything else is a distraction.

Safe drivers with bad credit are penalized in Louisiana, leading to higher auto insurance rates.

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 13:56:07 GMT

Safe drivers with bad credit are penalized in Louisiana, leading to higher auto insurance rates.

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) released a study yesterday detailing the negative impact using credit scores to set auto insurance prices has on good drivers in Louisiana.

Safe Drivers Pay More

In Louisiana, safe drivers with poor credit pay an average of $905 more than drivers with a DWI and excellent credit ($3,548 / $2,643). Using credit scores in price setting creates a perverse incentive structure that rewards dangerous drivers and unfairly penalizes good drivers.

“On average, a consumer with poor credit has to pay twice as much for auto insurance as a driver with excellent credit, even if everything else, including their driving safety history, are the same,” said Douglas Heller, CFA’s Director of Insurance and the study’s co-author. “Not only is this unfair to safe drivers, because of longstanding and institutional biases, the use of credit history for insurance pricing leads to disproportionately higher premiums for lower-income drivers and people of color.”

Why Louisiana Drivers Pay More

This report reveals a key reason Louisianans pay more for auto insurance. Louisiana ranks 48th in median household income and 49th in average credit score . According to CFA’s study , safe drivers with poor credit pay 111% more than safe drivers with excellent credit ($1,505 / $713). Consequently, Louisiana has the second-highest auto insurance rates in the nation. In fact, Louisiana is one of only ten states where the annual expenditure for auto insurance exceeds $1,362, according to NAIC.

According to the most recent state-specific data, State Farm is the largest auto insurer in Louisiana , with 31.62% market share. The CFA’s analysis, which included data from Louisiana, found that “State Farm charges people with fair credit a 78% surcharge over the premiums charged to excellent credit drivers, and it charges poor credit customers a 224% surcharge on average.”

“We must stop letting the fox guard the hen house by listening to big insurance companies when it comes to lowering rates,” said Ben Riggs, executive director of Real Reform Louisiana. “The truth is they are using non-driving related factors, like credit scores, to increase premiums, penalize good drivers, and pad their profits. Louisianans deserve real insurance reforms that prohibit unfair practices like this and lower costs."

The Solution

Three states have passed laws to prohibit using credit scores in setting insurance prices: California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts—all of which have cheaper auto insurance than Louisiana. If lawmakers are serious about lowering auto insurance rates for Louisiana drivers, the State Legislature should make Louisiana the 4th state to ban the use of consumer credit information in auto insurance price setting.

Big Insurance: The Big Business of Long Delays

benriggs09@gmail.com (Ben Riggs) — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 20:16:10 GMT

How Insurance Companies Make Big Bucks by Delaying Claims

Everyone knows about insurance premiums and claims, the money brought in and paid out by insurance companies. But the insurance industry is all about "the float." To understand the business of insurance and why big insurance companies spend millions lobbying for bills that delay policyholders' claims, you need to understand float.

News that Berkshire Hathaway's operating earnings rose 12% from insurance profits made a big splash early this summer. What drove those profits? “Insurance investment income [for Geico] rose by 68% to $1.969 billion from $1.17 billion,” according to The Street . In short, they invested the float.

WHAT IS FLOAT?

Policyholders pay premiums every month to protect their homes and businesses. When their property is damaged, they file a claim, and the insurance company is expected to cover that loss.

The float is the money in the middle. It's the money received from premiums that insurance companies hold before a claim is paid. Insurance companies use delay tactics to extend that gap and increase their profits.

INVESTING THE FLOAT

Essentially, big insurance companies treat the premiums received from policyholders as interest-free loans that do not need to be repaid until they are forced to cover a claim. Insurers invest that money to increase their profits.

This is the secret behind much of Warren Buffett's success. He is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns GEICO Insurance. Buffett says, “One reason we were attracted to the Property & Casualty [insurance] business" was that the "collect-now, pay-later model leaves property & casualty companies holding large sums [and] that insurers get to invest this float for their own benefit." And he has done just that. Buffett's company has outperformed the S&P 500's gains 153 times over since 1965.

INCENTIVE TO DELAY
Investing the float is how big insurance companies make their profits. Unfortunately, this creates an incentive for them to cheat policyholders. Big insurance spends millions of dollars lobbying lawmakers for industry-friendly legislation that enables them to delay claims.

The business of insurance is investing. They write policies just to acquire funds that they can invest for their benefit. Moreover, big insurance wants to delay policyholders' claims to extend the life of their investment and pad their profits. Delay is their business model. It's corporate greed.

SB 96 by Sen. Kirk Talbot attacks the home and small business owners

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 20:48:40 GMT

SB 96 by Sen. Kirk Talbot attacks the home and small business owners paying the most for insurance in Louisiana.

SB 96 makes it impossible for storm victims to rebuild their lives if Citizens Insurance Corporation denies or delays their claim.

Policyholders pay expensive premiums for years, expecting their insurance companies to uphold their end of the bargain when tragedy strikes. They want to be paid fairly and promptly so they can get their life back on track. No one wants to live in temporary housing or be forced to go to court to fight for what they need and deserve.

SB 96 removes any incentive for Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to handle claims fairly and promptly. It encourages Citizens to delay and deny claims.

Currently, Citizens Insurance must pay reasonable fees and costs when the court sides with the policyholder in a dispute. SB 96 would reverse that, unfairly forcing policyholders to pay attorney fees out of their pocket even if they win their case. As a result, home and small business owners are never made whole.

SB 96 gives Citizens' Insurance a free pass.

Louisiana is reeling from three catastrophic storms. Families are still struggling to rebuild, and high insurance premiums are pricing many out of their homes. SB 96 negatively impacts those hurting the most, as Citizens' policies are required by law to be 10% above the market price.

Citizens' policyholders have suffered enough. They are in desperate need of relief. Unfortunately, SB 96 only adds to their suffering, which is why Real Reform Louisiana strongly opposes SB 96.

SB 96 is listed on the Senate digest as on 3rd reading and final passage, subject to call.

Louisiana Families Feeling Pain Of Insurance Crisis, Survey Shows

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 20:47:21 GMT

Louisiana Families Feeling Pain of Insurance Crisis, Survey Shows

June is the beginning of the hurricane season and the end of the legislative session in Louisiana. As storms form in the gulf, big insurance companies continue to push industry-friendly legislation that disadvantages consumers, making it easier for insurance companies to raise costs, delay claims, and ultimately deny storm victims the money they need to rebuild their lives.

Louisiana desperately needs real insurance reform that benefits consumers by increasing competition, lowering costs, and increasing accountability for big insurance companies. Louisiana families are hurting, as evidenced by a recent survey conducted by the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs at LSU.

63% of Louisiana homeowners report that the cost of insurance increased. Only 3% reported paying less for homeowners insurance. Nearly 7 out of 10 respondents said insurance in Louisiana costs more than in other states.

17% of Louisiana homeowners report that their insurer canceled their policy over the past year. That's nearly one-fifth of every Louisiana adult reporting that their homeowner's insurance coverage was canceled. Over half (55%) of the Louisiana homeowners who tried to find an insurance policy last year experienced difficulty getting coverage.

Roughly 1 in 5 adults have filed a property, flood, or renters insurance claim in the past two years, which accounts for 29% of all Louisiana policyholders. 48% of policyholders report dissatisfaction with how their insurance company handled their claims.

Louisiana families are also frustrated with broken promises. Two years ago, we were promised tort reform would lower automobile insurance rates. But only 10% of auto insurance policyholders reported paying less in the survey, while a plurality (43%) reported paying more.

Now, the same people that promised tort reform would lower auto insurance rates are pushing the same false promise about property insurance. Tort reform will not lower home insurance premiums, as evidenced by the spiraling crisis in Florida.

The Sunshine State has passed several aggressive tort reform packages over the past two years. Yet, Florida's insurance rates are four times higher than the national average and insurance companies are defrauding policyholders at an alarming rate .

Senate Insurance Sides With Big Business

Thu, 18 May 2023 20:34:28 GMT

Senate Insurance amends HB 601, siding with big insurance over storm victims.

With hurricane season around the corner, the Senate Insurance Committee voted 5-4 to pass a heavily amended version of HB 601, which will be devastating to Louisiana families and small businesses when their insurance companies won’t pay them. The Senate Insurance Committee's version of the bill rejects the changes made by House Speaker Pro Tempore Tanner Magee, a storm victim from Houma, Louisiana.

The contrast was quite stark—and telling.

The amendments were provided to the committee when they were introduced during the meeting. Three lobbyists for big insurance sat at the table on behalf of the author, promoting the industry-friendly amendments and deflecting questions from opponents for two hours.

In comparison, a Lake Charles storm victim and small business owner was permitted to speak for roughly five minutes at the end of the hearing about the difficulties she faced during the claims process and how the amendments would negatively impact people like her.

Kathi Vidrine, the Lake Charles storm victim and owner of Steamboat Bill's restaurant, provided insightful and compelling testimony about how her insurance company abandoned her after Hurricane Laura.

HB 601 makes substantial changes to Louisiana law and how bad faith claims are handled. It protects big insurance companies that act in bad faith and shifts more of the burden in the claims process over to storm victims. If HB 601 becomes law, insurers can act in bad faith and hide behind the new "willful" standard, which will be virtually impossible to prove. It will also require storm victims with no internet connection, cell phone service, or mail delivery to complete a written proof of loss form as a condition of satisfactory proof of loss claims to prove bad faith.

Senators Royce Duplessis, Katrina Jackson, Gary Smith, and Jeremy Stine voted against the amendments. They thoroughly questioned the three lobbyists, repeatedly asking how this would impact policyholders who have to fight their insurance company. Senator Kirk Talbot was the only vocal proponent of the anti-consumer legislation, though Senators Barrow Peacock, Robert Mills, Louie Bernard, and Michael Fesi joined him in voting for the amendments and the bill.

HB 252: Legislature Votes No

Tue, 16 May 2023 20:32:01 GMT

VIDEO: Louisiana House of Representatives Votes NO on Lowering Insurance Rates

Rep. Robby Carter authored HB 252, a consumer-friendly bill that prohibits insurance companies from factoring advertising expenses into premiums for Louisiana policyholders.

HB 252 would have saved Louisiana families and small businesses money. But led by Representatives Mike Huval, Larry Frieman, and Alan Seabaugh, the Louisiana House of Representatives voted NO on the bill, allowing insurance companies to continue passing the high cost of their expensive ads on to Louisiana consumers.

Big insurance companies spend billions every year on advertising. For example, Progressive, Geico, State Farm, and All-State spent nearly $5 billion on advertising in 2022. Currently, Louisiana law allows big insurance companies to pass on the cost of their multi-billion dollar advertisements to consumers. As a result, Louisianans are paying for expensive Super Bowl ads that feature Flo, the Gecko, Jake, Mayhem, and the Emu.

Louisiana desperately needs to elect representatives that will fight for real insurance reforms that protect policyholders, increase competition, lower costs, and hold insurance companies accountable.

HB 489: Say No To Illegal And Excessive Rates

Thu, 11 May 2023 20:30:21 GMT

HB 489 Allows Insurance Companies to Impose Illegal and Excessive Rates on Louisiana Policyholders.

Real Reform Louisiana strongly opposes HB 489.

Louisiana is in the midst of an insurance crisis, as families are being priced out of their homes and small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open.

Louisiana cannot afford to make it easier for insurance companies to raise rates, which is precisely what HB 489 by Rep. Michael Huval does.

HB 489 allows insurance companies to increase prices on policyholders without first submitting those rates to the Commissioner of Insurance to ensure the rates comply with state law and are actuarially justified.

This rate-setting system could expose policyholders to illegal and excessive cost increases that Louisiana families and small businesses cannot afford. Moreover, the Commissioner would not be able to invalidate unjustified rates for more than four months after implementation.

Big insurance companies do not want to eliminate rate justification in order to lower rates.

HB 489 will lead to higher premiums for Louisiana policyholders, which is why Real Reform Louisiana strongly opposes this bill.

Ben Riggs
Executive Director Real Reform LA

HB 287: Pro-Consumer, Transparency Bill That Promotes Fairness

Tue, 09 May 2023 20:23:18 GMT

Big Insurance is Slashing Claims Estimates. HB 287 Levels the Playing Field.

Big insurance companies are getting caught red-handed slashing field adjuster’s initial estimates and lowballing storm victims. This makes it nearly impossible for Louisiana families and small businesses to rebuild and get their lives back on track. It also undermines the field adjuster’s expertise.

HB 287 is a pro-consumer transparency bill that provides policyholders with a copy of the adjuster’s initial estimate and supporting documents. HB 287 does not impose burdensome time constraints or extra work on the field adjuster. Instead, it requires the insurer to provide the policyholder with a copy of the estimate upon receipt through a customer portal, via email, or upon request if the policyholder has not signed up for online services or provided an email.

HB 287 is a necessary protection for both consumers and field adjusters. Insurance companies often gut the initial estimate without notifying the policyholder or the field adjuster.

A Hurricane Ida victim in Cutoff, Louisiana was offered just 20% of the field adjuster’s estimate. “They changed my estimate completely. I couldn’t believe it,” said Joseph Lahatte, the adjuster. “I stopped working for UPC after that.”

This shameful practice is not limited to Louisiana. According to a Washington Post analysis , some Florida policyholders and their families saw their Hurricane Ian claims slashed by 45-97%. The Post also reported that “managers have been changing their (adjusters) work by lowering totals, rewriting descriptions of damage and deleting accompanying photos without their approval.”

HB 287 ensures that the insured and insurer have access to the same documents and information pertaining to the policyholder’s claim. It provides much-needed transparency, levels the playing field, and protects policyholders and adjusters alike.

Contact your legislator and ask them to support HB 287.

What's Big Insurance Hiding?

Wed, 03 May 2023 20:22:11 GMT

What is big insurance hiding?

Apparently the thought of insurance companies being investigated for fraud sent a scare through the insurance industry.

HB 281 by Rep. Ray Garofalo empowers the Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority to combat property insurance fraud, worker's compensation fraud, and health insurance fraud.

Jimmy Ordeneaux, a lobbyist with Louisiana Farm Bureau Insurance, put in a red card and spoke in opposition to HB 281. Ordeneaux said Farm Bureau would be "fine" with HB 281 "if it were tailored to insured fraud or policyholder fraud" but that they are worried the bill provides "more oversight" for insurance companies.

We know insurance companies in Louisiana are editing reports from their own field adjusters without their consent to deprive homeowners of the money they need and deserve. Similar schemes in other states have led to insurance company's contractors being successfully prosecuted for fraud.

HB 281 provides a measure of oversight that benefits Louisiana consumers, even though consumer voices are severely lacking in the proposed panel. Farm Bureau's opposition to HB 281 reaffirms the need for that additional oversight.

In fact, it begs the question: What is Farm Bureau hiding?

SB 11 Reported Favorably; Bans Gender Discrimination in Auto Insurance Premiums.

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 16:34:17 GMT

SB 11 Reported Favorably; Bans Gender Discrimination in Auto Insurance Premiums.

SB 11 by Senator Jay Luneau was reported favorably by the Senate Committee on Insurance on Wednesday, April 26th. It now heads to the Senate floor for a vote of the full body.

SB 11 prohibits auto insurance companies from discriminating against women when setting premiums. It is a pro-consumer bill that Real Reform Louisiana included in our legislative agenda.

Real Reform Louisiana would like to thank Senator Jay Luneau for authoring SB 11 and Senators Louie Bernard, Royce Duplessis, Katrina Jackson, Barrow Peacock, and Gary Smith for voting in favor of the bill in committee.

Many insurance companies charge women higher premiums than men, despite women being statistically better drivers. According to studies, women get fewer speeding tickets, receive fewer DWIs, and have fewer fatal accidents.

Auto insurance is state mandated for all drivers and rates should be set based on driving-related factors, not immutable characteristics like gender.

The Consumer Federation of America analyzed auto insurance premium data acquired from Quadrant Information Services for ten insurance companies writing policies in Louisiana. The premiums are calculated based on a base profile for a 35-year-old male or female driver who has a perfect driving record, drives a 2011 Honda Civic LX, and purchases the minimum required auto insurance coverage. Five of ten companies charge women more than men, with two insurance companies charging female drivers over $150 more than their male counterparts.

SB 11 would protect women from this unfair and discriminatory practice, ensuring that women are not unfairly penalized for their gender when it comes to auto insurance premiums by requiring insurance companies to set rates based on driving-related factors.

“SB 11 was reported favorably by Senate Insurance, which is a step in the right direction,” said Ben Riggs, executive director of Real Reform Louisiana. “No one should be penalized for their gender. Statistically, women are better drivers than men. The Louisiana Senate now has the opportunity to end the discriminatory practice of charging women higher auto insurance premiums than men and put more money in the pockets of Louisiana families.”

Click here to read the fact sheet from the Consumer Federation of America.

HB 604 is a complicated, expensive cure that's worse than the disease

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 16:28:41 GMT

HB 604 is a complicated, expensive cure that's worse than the disease

HB 604 by Representative Ray Garofalo requires the Louisiana Department of Insurance to establish and maintain a registry of umpires for property insurance claims, which would create an extraordinarily complex and difficult process that costs storm victims more money and makes it harder for them to rebuild their lives.

There are legitimate concerns regarding qualifications and availability with appraisers and umpires. Unfortunately, HB 604 is a cure worse than the original disease. This bill permits insurance companies to force policyholders into complicated binding agreements that policyholders must navigate on their own or spend money they do not have to enlist the services of an attorney.

HB 604 also creates conditions that are highly susceptible to corruption. Consumers could be significantly disadvantaged by allowing an elected official, like the Insurance Commissioner, who receives contributions from the insurance industry, to establish and maintain a registry of umpires who will issue binding decisions on disputed claims in which insurance companies have a financial interest.

“HB 604 exacerbates the problem it seeks to solve,” said Ben Riggs, executive director of Real Reform Louisiana. “It binds policyholder’s hands with mounds of red tape, forcing them to navigate a difficult and expensive process resulting in a binding decision issued by an umpire appointed by the Insurance Commissioner. Louisiana needs real insurance reforms that benefit consumers by strengthening policyholders’ rights, lowering costs, improving transparency, and making it easier for homeowners and small businesses to resolve their property claims."

Insurance Company Caught Slashing Adjuster’s Initial Estimates Post-Ida

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 15:01:45 GMT

Insurance Company Caught Slashing Adjuster’s Initial Estimates Post-Ida

The Washington Post recently released a bombshell report exposing big insurance companies’ malicious practice of modifying adjuster estimates without notifying the adjuster or the policyholder. According to the Post, policyholders saw their claims slashed by 45% to 97% of what they were owed.

This practice is criminal—and it’s happening here in Louisiana, underscoring the need to strengthen consumer protections during the current legislative session.

An independent adjuster named Joseph Lahatte Jr . said, “They changed my estimate completely. I couldn’t believe it.”

The Insurance Journal reports, "Lahatte’s i nitial estimate for a home in Cut Off, Louisiana, in the low-lying area south of New Orleans, showed $182,137 in damage.” But after the insurance company gutted his estimate, the homeowner was awarded a meager $35,830. That’s a reduction of more than 80%!

Louisiana families and small businesses are still struggling to recover from three catastrophic storms, primarily due to big insurance companies acting in bad faith. They stonewall, lowball, delay, and ultimately deny claims, making it impossible for Louisiana families to get their lives back on track.

The insurance industry is currently pushing several bills through the Louisiana legislature that would make it easier for them to cheat consumers and harder for policyholders to hold them accountable. House Bills 183 and 601 and Senate Bill 96 are anti-consumer measures that incentivize insurance companies to lowball, delay, and deny damages owed to storm victims.

House Bill 287 by Rep. Cormier and Senate Bills 106 and 156 by Senators Smith and Duplessis are pro-consumer measures that increase transparency and make it easier for policyholders to hold insurance companies accountable when they act in bad faith.

Louisiana cannot afford to pass more pro-insurance legislation that weakens consumer protections as Louisiana families and small businesses continue to struggle against their insurance companies to rebuild their lives.

Let your state legislator know that you oppose House Bills 183 and 601, as well as Senate Bill 96—and that you support House Bill 287 and Senate Bills 106 and 156.

Real Reform Legislative Agenda

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 16:41:02 GMT

Real Reform Legislative Agenda

The 2023 legislative session is underway. Louisiana families and small businesses are suffering an insurance crisis.

We need pro-consumer reforms that lower costs, make it easier for storm victims to recover, and hold their insurer accountable. There are a number of insurance industry friendly bills that make it easier for big insurance companies to delay and deny claims.

Below is our consumer guide to the 2023 Louisiana legislative session.

Donelon's Anti-Consumer Legislative Package Would Hurt Louisiana Storm Victims

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 19:32:50 GMT

Donelon doubles down on failed anti-consumer, pro-insurance approach

April 4th, 2023

Real Reform Executive Director Ben Riggs issued the following statement after Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon announced his legislative agenda:

“Commissioner Donelon believes the solution to Louisiana's insurance crisis is to further attack storm victims. Donelon's legislative package doubles down on the same anti-consumer, pro-insurance approach that lead to a $45 million taxpayer hand out to big insurance companies and ultimately him stepping down as commissioner. Louisiana families and small businesses are still struggling to recover from three major hurricanes. We cannot afford to relax consumer protections and further hurt storm victims, especially those already forced to pay the highest premiums in the state. Louisiana needs real reform that increases competition, lowers costs, and protects policyholders.”

Judicial Hellholes list again phony, misleading, harmful to Louisiana

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 17:17:34 GMT

Judicial Hellholes list again phony, misleading, harmful to Louisiana

February 2, 2023

A phony list that consistently ranks Louisiana as one the nation’s “Judicial Hellholes” has re-entered the public discourse, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

In a recent Letter to the Editor, State Senator Robert Mills references the latest report, arguing that “Louisiana’s civil justice climate impacts the state’s ability to attract and retain business.”

If it were true that the judicial atmosphere in Louisiana discourages businesses from investing in our state, then incredibly profitable oil and gas companies wouldn’t do business here.

The report is put together by corporate lobbyist organization The American Tort Reform Foundation, which is the same organization that promised us our car insurance rates would go down by 25% if we passed tort reform. Instead, our rates are going up.

This is a misleading report based on anecdotal evidence - with no empirical aspect of the study evident - presented by corporate lobbyists. These same lobbyists strategized to tie tort reform to insurance rates , intending to “excite Joe Six-Pack” into supporting policies that actually pad corporate profits.

The timing is profound as our legislators are currently in a special session to fund an incentive program that aims to lure insurance providers to the state. A similar proposal was used after Hurricane Katrina to - at-best - mixed results - with the vast majority of insurers attracted folding or leaving the state.

Some say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says our only option (outside of going uninsured) is to try this same failed incentive program, again. That’s tough to believe coming from a man who gets most of his campaign funding from insurance companies, agents, and lobbyists.

We need real insurance reform, not more laws written by corporate lobbyists to rig the system for big insurance.

What the Special Insurance Session means for Real Reform Louisiana

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 17:07:12 GMT

What the Special Insurance Session means for Real Reform Louisiana

January 31, 2023

During October’s joint session of the Louisiana Legislature, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon admitted failure in regulating the insurance companies incentivized by a Katrina-era program. Now, in order to provide some relief to our ongoing insurance crisis, we’re one day into a special session of the state legislature where a similar program is likely to be funded.

Donelon has made clear that we must fund this incentive program. Thanks to the budgeting of Gov. John Bel Edwards we have the funds to do so without raising taxes or cutting services - but we need to work toward a long term solution for real insurance reform - when it doesn’t come at an additional cost to the taxpayer.

Donelon created this mess by allowing failing companies to qualify with low standards. Higher standards and better regulation must be put in place to ensure Louisiana does business with providers committed to Louisiana , providers who will treat people with dignity and take on the risky policies all too common in our state.

With the devastation of the storms in 2020 and 2021 and the state of homeowners insurance where it is throughout the state, action is needed now. Donelon has forced our leaders' hands, so if the new program doesn’t result in insurance rates going down & the number of new carriers going up, he should be on the hook for the tab.

S&P Analysis: Louisiana Seeing Highest Car Insurance Rate Increases

info@realreformla.com (Eric Holl) — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 14:36:00 GMT

S&P Analysis: Louisiana Seeing Highest Car Insurance Rate Increases

Tort reform continues to be an abysmal failure

by Eric Holl, Executive Director

June 14, 2022

Louisiana drivers are getting the highest auto insurance rate hikes in the country, according to a new S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of 13 states with publicly available rate change approval data.

S&P Global Market Intelligence says State Farm’s 7.2% rate increase in Louisiana was “the most-impactful single rate increase during the month of April” because it applies to 1 million policyholders, who will pay $95.3 million more in premiums.

Louisiana also had the highest single percentage rate increase of the rate changes highlighted, with a 14.9% increase for Allstate drivers approved by Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon.

The insurance commissioner approved these new rate increases roughly two years after the passage of major tort reform legislation. He claimed tort reform would lower rates by 25% , and promised Louisiana’s new law would result in rapid rate decreases. Instead, we’ve seen consistent increases .

This legislative session, the insurance commissioner testified against legislation to lower rates for good drivers and improve the health of the auto insurance market. His opposition helped kill the bill. As a result, The Gambit's Clancy DuBos called insurance companies one of "da winnas" of the 2022 legislative session.

See below for a statement from Real Reform Louisiana Executive Director Eric Holl:

“The legislature gave away Louisiana drivers’ legal rights by passing tort reform in 2020, and all we’ve gotten in return is even higher insurance rates. Tort reform doesn’t lower auto rates. We need real insurance reform.”

House Insurance Committee, Donelon Kill Effort To Lower Auto Insurance Rates

info@realreformla.com (Eric Holl) — Tue, 17 May 2022 14:58:42 GMT

House Insurance Committee, Donelon Kill Effort To Lower Auto Insurance Rates

May 17, 2022

by Eric Holl, Executive Director

Last week the Louisiana House Insurance Committee killed Rep. Edmond Jordan’s House Bill 351, a bill to lower auto insurance rates by banning the use of credit score and occupation rate-setting.

Insurance Committee Chairman Mike Huval and Representatives Mary Dubuisson, Kathy Edmonston, Gave Firment, Larry Frieman, Paul Hollis and John Illg all voted against the bill to lower auto insurance rates. Representatives Edmond Jordan, Delisha Boyd, Chad Brown, Cedric Glover, Kyle Green, Sherman Mack, and Matt Willard all voted in favor. Because the vote was a 7-7 tie, the bill failed to advance out of committee.

Insurers use non-driving factors like credit score and occupation to overcharge good drivers and give discounts to wealthy customers that they think might purchase other kinds of insurance, like homeowner’s, life and boat insurance.

In many instances, your credit score is actually more important than your driving record. Consumer Reports magazine found that a Louisianan with poor credit but a perfect driving record pays nearly $1,000 more per year than a Louisianan with excellent credit and a DWI conviction.

As a result, good drivers with poor credit or blue-collar jobs get hit with big penalties, disincentivizing good driving and resulting in nearly half of Louisianans being forced to go uninsured or underinsured, which damages the health of the insurance market and raises everyone’s rates.

Shamefully but unsurprisingly, Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon joined insurance lobbyists in testifying against the bill, despite raising the issue of Louisiana’s large number of uninsured and underinsured drivers himself many times in the past. The Commissioner has consistently sided with the insurance industry, with few exceptions.

After House Bill 351 failed, another effort to lower auto rates was also defeated on a tie vote. Rep. Robby Carter's House Bill 116, which would have stopped insurance companies from charging policyholders for their advertising in their base insurance rates, was voted down by Chairman Huval and Representatives Dubuisson, Edmonston, Firment, Hollis and Illg. Insurance company advertisements are nearly unavoidable, and Louisiana allows these big corporations to charge our drivers for those billions of dollars’ worth of ads.

See below for a statement from Real Reform Louisiana Executive Director Eric Holl:

“Louisiana has the highest auto insurance rates in the country, but our legislators continue to let the big insurance companies write our insurance laws. The corporate lobbyists and insurance commissioner told us that tort reform would lower our rates by 25%, but our rates keep going up while insurance companies rake in billions in profits. Despite opposition from Chairman Huval, the insurance commissioner, and so many members of the Insurance Committee, we will never stop fighting for real auto insurance reform that will lower rates.”

Nearly All Louisianans Say Auto Rates Have Increased Or Stayed High Since Tort Reform

info@realreformla.com (Eric Holl) — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 15:57:24 GMT

Nearly All Louisianans Say Auto Rates Have Increased Or Stayed High Since Tort Reform

by Eric Holl, Executive Director
April 21, 2022

Despite the promises of widespread 10-25% auto insurance rate reductions made by the proponents of 2020’s tort reform law, only 8% of Louisianans say their auto insurance rates have gone down since the law took effect last year—compared to 45% that have seen an increase and 46% that have seen no change.

That’s according to this year’s edition of the Louisiana Survey, conducted by LSU’s Reilly Center. And it lines up with reports from policyholders of 35% increases and an analysis by insure.com that showed a 19% average increase in auto insurance rates since last year.

See below for a statement from Real Reform Louisiana Executive Director Eric Holl:

“Tort reform has been an abysmal failure because it was never about lowering auto insurance rates, it was always about rigging the courts even further in favor of insurance companies and big business. If we want to lower auto insurance rates, we need to stop letting the insurance lobbyists write the insurance laws. It’s time to pass real auto insurance reform, starting with House Bill 351 by Rep. Edmond Jordan.”

LSU Survey: HALF Of Storm Victims Upset With Their Insurance Company

info@realreformla.com (Eric Holl) — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 16:46:13 GMT

LSU Survey: HALF Of Storm Victims Upset With Their Insurance Company

by Eric Holl, Executive Director

April 20, 2022

According to a statewide survey released yesterday by LSU’s Reilly Center , 47% of Louisianans who have filed a homeowners’, flood or rental insurance claim in the last two years are dissatisfied with how their insurance company handled their claim.

There have been 750,000 claims filed as a result of Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Ida, which means that roughly 375,000 Louisiana families are unhappy with how their insurance company handled their hurricane claim.

Why? Because insurance companies use shady delay and denial tactics to avoid paying claims, while the legislature and insurance commissioner continue to let them get away with it.

See below for a statement from Real Reform Louisiana Executive Director Eric Holl:

“When hurricane victims can’t get the money they’re owed to rebuild, our entire state suffers. We have seen population loss in Southwest Louisiana, and we will see it in Southeast Louisiana if insurance companies continue to abuse policyholders. We can fix this, by empowering policyholders with claims transparency, increasing penalties on bad actors, and enforcing criminal fraud laws on behalf of policyholders. It’s time for the legislature to pass real insurance reform to address this crisis.”

Real Reform’s 2022 Bipartisan Insurance Reform Agenda

info@realreformla.com (Eric Holl) — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 19:48:56 GMT

Real Reform’s 2022 Bipartisan Insurance Reform Agenda

By Eric Holl, Executive Director

Louisiana is in an insurance crisis. The legislature ignored the cries of victims of Hurricanes Laura and Delta and refused to pass significant insurance reform in the 2021 legislative session. Just a few months later another Category 5 storm, Hurricane Ida, struck our state. Now the people of Southeast Louisiana are languishing in the same insurance purgatory that Southwest Louisiana families have been stuck in for 18 months.

To make matters worse, the 2020 tort reform legislation that the insurance commissioner and corporate lobbyists promised would lower auto insurance rates by 25% has proven to be an abysmal failure. Instead of going down, our auto insurance rates have skyrocketed 19%, and Louisiana has become the most expensive state in the country for auto insurance.

Luckily, it is not too late to fix our broken insurance system and end the abuse of policyholders. Strong, meaningful insurance reform legislation has been introduced by a bipartisan group of legislators. All of it is commonsense legislation focused on creating transparency in the claims process, making insurance companies play by the rules, and increasing penalties on bad actors. Any insurance company currently conducting their business with decency and respect will be minimally impacted by this proposed legislation.

See below for a statement from Real Reform Louisiana Executive Director Eric Holl, followed by the full list of legislation Real Reform Louisiana is supporting and opposing as filed.

“We would like to thank Sen. Jeremy Stine, Rep. Ed Larvadain, Rep. Matthew Willard, Rep. Tanner Magee, Rep. Kyle Green, Rep. Edmond Jordan, Sen. Jay Luneau and the many other legislators who are standing up and fighting for policyholders. We would also like to thank Governor Edwards for including insurance reform in his legislative package. Thanks to this bipartisan group of leaders, Louisiana may finally get the insurance reform our people desperately need. The people of Louisiana are watching, and Real Reform Louisiana will be informing the public of how their legislators vote on this crucial legislation.”

SUPPORTED LEGISLATION:

Property Claims

SB208 (Stine) — Increased penalties for bad actors. The main incentive insurance companies have to not cheat their policyholders—besides basic decency—is the threat of bad faith penalties that can be awarded if a court of law finds that the insurance company wasn’t following the law or their contract. Theoretically, bad faith penalties are supposed to be the deterrent that stops bad behavior by insurance companies. Clearly, the current penalties we have aren’t working, and must be strengthened. This legislation would do so. It would also add further increased penalties if an insurer is operating in bad faith and dragging out a claim for an extended period of time, in an effort to end the endless delay tactics insurance companies use to exhaust and frustrate hurricane victims. [Note: Similar legislation is expected to be filed in the House by Rep. Ed Larvadain, which Real Reform will also support]

HB268 (Magee) and HB558 (Willard) — End insurance purgatory. Right now, insurance companies are required to pay claims shortly after receiving ”satisfactory proof of loss.” Unfortunately, insurance companies abuse that legal language, arbitrarily insisting they haven’t received “satisfactory proof of loss” for months on end in order to drag out claims and wear down desperate hurricane victims. These bills would limit the amount of time insurance companies have to obtain “satisfactory proof of loss” to stop the endless delays and end insurance purgatory.

HB316 (Willard) and SB331 (Stine) — Claims transparency. Despite laws currently in place that entitle policyholders to their insurance policy and information on their claim, many policyholders report that their insurance company refuses to provide documents. This legislation would solve that by requiring insurance companies to proactively provide policyholders with claims materials they are already entitled to, so that the policyholder can understand their claim and advocate for themselves.

HB692 (Larvadain) — Enforce the fraud laws we already have on the books. If laws are being violated by insurance companies, engineers, contractors, or anyone else after a storm, there needs to be investigation and enforcement. Unfortunately right now, there seems to be no law enforcement entity who considers it their responsibility to investigate potential fraud committed in the insurance claims process after a storm, especially if that fraud is committed by the insurance company or one of their representatives. This legislation would create a task force modeled after the Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority that already exists in state government, focused on enforcing fraud laws against bad actors after named storms.

HB317 (Willard) and SB150 (Luneau) — No more surprise deductibles. Many homeowners who file a claim after a hurricane say they were unaware that they had a ‘named storm deductible,’ which can be so high it renders their insurance policy useless. This legislation is modeled after current law on uninsured motorist policies in auto insurance. It would require policyholders to provide affirmative consent—like a signed form—agreeing to their named storm deductible before it can take effect as part of their policy. This will help consumers be better informed when purchasing their policy, and help insurance companies and agents avoid confusion and disputes over named storm deductibles when claims are filed.

HB682 (Brown) and SB330 (Stine) — Adjuster registry. Many policyholders place their trust in the adjuster sent by the insurance company to begin adjusting their claim, only to find out later that that adjuster was inexperienced or unqualified. This bill would create a database of registered insurance adjusters that is easily accessible and digestible to policyholders, so that when the insurance company sends an adjuster to someone’s house, they can look them up and see if they are registered and qualified for the job.

HB805 (Green) and SB355 (Gary Smith) — Stop mortgage companies from arbitrarily withholding checks. Right now, there are no rules governing how mortgage companies disburse checks they receive from insurance claims. As a result, homeowners can be left in the lurch while their bank earns interest on insurance money and the policyholder misses out on contractors. This bill creates reasonable rules for mortgage companies when handling insurance checks.

SB209 (Stine) and SB210 (Stine) — Increase the fines the insurance commissioner can levy against insurance companies who break the rules.

SB13 (Bouie) and SB345 (Gary Smith) — Limit insurance companies to three adjusters to stop the endless adjuster churn so many policyholders deal with.

HB83 (Schlegel) and SB134 (Talbot) — Require insurance companies to honor the sections of their policies that cover costs for evacuation, even if the evacuation is only suggested by local government leaders, and not mandatory.

SB231 (Henry) — Make uninhabitable mean uninhabitable. This legislation would stop insurance companies from claiming that dangerous living conditions with long term lack of basic utilities do not make a dwelling "uninhabitable." After Hurricane Ida, Louisianans died because their insurance company would not pay for them to find a safe place to stay.

SB253 (Barrow) — Makes it illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against elderly and developmentally disabled policyholders.

HB621 (Green) — Gives more time for policyholders to complete repairs.

SB105 (Fesi) — Requires insurers to give 30 days notice of changes to policies that will happen at renewal.

SB119 , SB163 (Talbot) and SB232 (Stine) — Creates a Catastrophe Claims Consumer Guide and Catastrophe Claims Disclosure Form that must be given to policyholders.

SB198 (Talbot) — Gives a point of contact and info on dispute to policyholder after they’ve dealt with three adjusters.

SB214 (Luneau) — Requires out-of-state adjusters to return to Louisiana to testify in case of a legal dispute.

SB352 (Fields) — Requires utility providers to issue a credit to customers who experience an outage of service for more than 24 hours.

HB703 (Miller) — Requires disputes about contracts for repairs to residential property during a hurricane to take place in parish the property is located in.

HB788 (Romero) — Provides for an out-of-state contractor database.

Automotive Claims

HB351 (Jordan) - Bans the use of ridiculous non-driving rate setting factors like education level, employment status, trade, business, occupation, profession, or credit information. Insurance companies use these ridiculous factors to overcharge good drivers and undercharge wealthier, upper class reckless drivers. This hurts the entire insurance market by reducing incentives to drive safely and causing good drivers who work blue collar jobs or have low credit scores to go uninsured or underinsured because they’re being overcharged.

HB116 (R. Carter) – Stops insurance companies from passing on the costs of their ubiquitous advertising to policyholders in their insurance premiums. Drivers shouldn’t have to pay for the cost of all those unavoidable ads featuring Emus, Geckos, Mayhem, and Jake.

HB290 (R. Carter) - Provides for a five percent insurance rate reduction for motor vehicles with a dashboard camera.

OPPOSED LEGISLATION:

Property Claims

HB539 (Firment) – Weakens current legal protections in place to ensure policyholders get the replacements and repairs they are entitled to.

Automotive Claims

SB128 (Talbot) , SB120 (Talbot) and HB705 (Seabaugh) – Like 2020’s failed tort reform legislation, these bills would further rig the courts against policyholders in order to pad corporate profit margins. And like 2020’s failed tort reform legislation, these bills would do nothing to lower insurance rates. They would give insurance companies more ways to delay and deny claims like they are doing to tens of thousands of hurricane victims across South Louisiana.

Inside Commissioner Donelon’s Anti-Policyholder Conference Before Session

info@realreformla.com (Eric Holl) — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 21:40:49 GMT

Louisiana Department of Insurance hosts seminars on how insurance industry can defeat policyholders in legislature and legal system

by Eric Holl, Executive Director, Real Reform Louisiana

March 9, 2022

We’re in a full-blown insurance crisis across South Louisiana as thousands of families and business owners get taken advantage of by their insurance companies. But to listen to Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon and the insurance lobbyists he invited to speak at his annual LDI conference on Monday and Tuesday, the real crisis is that the legislature might actually do something to give hurricane victims a fighting chance when they file a claim.

The conference saw the launch of a full-scale effort by the commissioner and his industry allies to downplay the issues Louisianans are having with insurance. They indicated they will do everything possible to maintain the unacceptable status quo with platitudes and feel-good legislation that does little to change the insurance environment. If they’re successful it will ensure that more Louisianans will suffer the same abuse from insurance companies after the next storm.

You can view the conference agenda here . Here are some of the informational sessions that were offered that we attended:

“Observations in the Louisiana Property & Casualty Market” – in which insurance industry lobbyist Ronnie Johnson claimed hurricane victims buy boats with their insurance check instead of making repairs and praised Donelon (who was present at the meeting) for authoring legislation that is “favorable” to the industry as an alternative to pro-consumer legislation that has been filed in response to South Louisiana’s insurance crisis.

“The Agent Perspective” – In which prominent insurance lobbyist Jeff Albright and other lobbyists for insurance agents talked about how lobbyists “work very closely” with Donelon who “would be out in front” during session to ensure the industry’s interests are protected at the capitol. Donelon thanked Albright for “the work that we’ve been doing in preparing for what is truthfully going to be the most important session in my tenure.”

“Beating Bad Faith After Laura, Delta, and Ida” – In which insurance defense attorney Matthew Molson gave advice on how insurance companies can avoid paying penalties when they get caught improperly withholding payment from policyholders.

“Social Inflation and its Effect on the Insurance Market” – in which insurance industry advocate Lars Powell argued that big insurance companies shouldn’t have to pay for an accident victim’s medical care for severe injuries caused by a truck because “if you think about a person’s behavior before they had the loss, they weren’t acting like that was worth tens of millions of dollars or they would’ve stayed home.”

It’s shameful, but it’s no surprise coming from the insurance commissioner that has overseen Louisiana’s market as we have become the most expensive state for car insurance and allowed insurance companies to run roughshod over thousands of South Louisiana hurricane victims. The insurance commissioner shouldn’t be teaming up with the insurance industry to fight against policyholders, but if the LDI conference is any indication, that’s what we’ll see during this legislative session.

Tort Reform Failure: Drivers to See Insurance Rate Hikes as High as 35%

info@realreformla.com (Eric Holl) — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 16:12:32 GMT

After making big tort reform promises, Donelon admits rates are rising

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2022

Contact: info@realreformla.com

In case you missed it late last week, WDSU reported that auto insurance rates are increasing in 2022, according to Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon. Some drivers are seeing rate hikes as high as 35%.

The hikes are more proof that the promises made by Donelon and Louisiana’s corporate lobbyists during the 2020 tort reform debate were false. Donelon said tort reform would lower rates by the end of 2020, while LABI president Stephen Waguespack said he’d go protest tort reform at the capitol if rates hadn’t gone down by June 2021. Tort reform passed, and our rates continue to rise.

The upcoming legislative session is expected to see a renewed push for real auto insurance reform, to stop insurance companies from using ridiculous non-driving factors like credit score and gender to overcharge good drivers. A recent Consumer Reports study found that a wealthy person who has been convicted of DWI pays less for car insurance than someone with poor credit and a perfect driving record.

While our rates continue to go up, insurance companies are making billions in profit and giving tens of millions of dollars in bonuses to their executives.

See below for a statement from Real Reform Louisiana Executive Director Eric Holl

“Tort reform has proven to be an abysmal failure. Louisianans now have fewer rights if their insurance company refuses to pay, and all they’ve gotten in return is higher rates. It’s time to stop letting insurance companies and corporate lobbyists write our insurance laws. It’s time to pass real insurance reform to make insurance companies play by the rules.

Daily Star: Legislature sticks it to policyholders

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 22:10:01 GMT

Say what? I’m sure I’m not hearing this right. After spending millions of dollars in lobbying for so called tort reform, and promising that limiting policyholders’ legal rights will cause a major reduction in the cost of automobile insurance, the industry seems to be taking an about face. Here’s what the Advocate reported this week:

“Louisiana drivers will pay the highest prices for auto insurance in the nation next year despite having passed a sweeping tort reform law that was sold as a way to dramatically lower premiums by as much as 25%, an insurance industry executive, who was one of the primary forces behind the legislation, told a panel of primarily Republican businessmen and legislators, who helped pass the new law."

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT HAMMONDSTAR.COM

Illuminator: La. auto insurance rates likely won’t drop this year despite tort reform promises

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 22:09:56 GMT

Critics say lobbyists designed new law to cater to corporate interests

It’s unclear when or if auto insurance rates in Louisiana will ever decrease as predicted by business lobbyists and state Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon last year when they presented lawmakers with sweeping tort reform legislation. That legislation gives insurance companies an edge against accident victims in lawsuits.

The tort reform, presented in May as House Bill 57 by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, was signed into law July 13 as the Civil Justice Reform Act of 2020. The legislation received backing from mostly Republicans, as well as the insurance industry and the state’s largest lobby group, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. It was opposed only by Democrats.

The act is designed to lower the amount of money insurance companies are paying to accident victims through Louisiana court judgments. Those savings, as argued by insurance lobbyists and the politicians who backed the legislation, will then trickle down to policyholders by way of reduced auto insurance rates.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT LAILLUMINATOR.COM

KEEL: LA. Car Insurance Rates Rise Even After Passing Tort Reform

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 22:09:54 GMT

In spite of the lure of lower auto insurance rates with passage of legal tort reform Louisiana's rates are on the rise!

It was March 2, 2020 when louisianarecord.com reported that Louisiana's Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said, working for tort reform is critical for lower insurance rates.

If you recall, it was about that time that Louisiana lawmakers were considering Senate Bill 418, called the Omnibus Premium Reduction Act of 2020, which, if passed, would dramatically change how people injured in car wrecks could seek and receive damages through Louisiana courts.

The crux of the argument, was that passage of this legislation would ultimately end in Louisiana's auto insurance providers lowering rates.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT MYKISSCOUNTRY937.COM

Advocate: Louisianans face endless insurance adjusters in Ida's aftermath: 'I feel like I have PTSD'

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 22:09:53 GMT

Peggy Honoré paid her insurance premiums on-time, every month for more than a decade, but in the months after Hurricane Ida tore the roof off her Destrehan home, she’s struggled to get her insurer to call her back, answer her questions or respond to her claims.

Twelve weeks out from the storm, Honoré has been shuffled between five different insurance adjusters, and each time she’s given a new point of contact, it’s as if the claims process starts anew.

“I feel like it’s a stall tactic to keep them from acting upon your claim,” Honoré said. “It just prolongs making a decision about anything.”

Oftentimes, policyholders will interact with at least two adjusters after submitting a claim. The first investigates damages on-the-ground, taking photos and measurements, and submitting a report with cost estimates. Then, a desk adjuster, working remotely, evaluates the field report and makes a decision about whether to cut a check.

But for Honoré, and countless other policyholders across southeast Louisiana, the claims review process hasn’t been so simple.

She’s gone weeks at a time hearing nothing from her adjuster, despite repeatedly reaching out. And more than once, her insurer, Maison Insurance, has assigned her a new adjuster without notice.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT THEADVOCATE.COM

Fox 8: Ida victims & contractors say insurers are denying obvious damage and causing other problems

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 22:09:51 GMT

Thousands of people have complained to the La. Department of Insurance

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Some homeowners and contractors say the Ida rebuilding process is hampered by insurance company antics. Complaints range from claims that insurers are denying some damage exists to trying to get people to buy supplies from certain businesses.

A modern camper sits in Danny Farrell’s front yard in Hahnville. It is where he, his wife, daughter and two dogs are staying because they cannot live in their damaged brick home.

“This is the living room, and the kitchen and dining room is what took the majority of the water but it just ran down the rafters into, into every room,” said Farrell.

He documented water pouring into his home after Ida damaged the roof.

“We tried to catch it when it first but it just ended up getting worse as the storm went on,” said Farrell.

Now he said he is dealing with a slow and frustrating insurance process.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT FOX8LIVE.COM

WWLTV: Thousands filing complaints against insurance companies over missing Ida payments

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 22:09:50 GMT

“We're months out from the storm and people are still trying to get their lives back together."

NEW ORLEANS — It’s been four-and-a-half months since Hurricane Ida hit, and there are still families waiting on insurance payments to fix their homes.

And now, more and more victims are turning to the state insurance department for help, or asking an attorney to speed up the process.

Kamri Butler says her Algiers home looks the exact same as the morning after Hurricane Ida hit. There is structural damage on the outside. The shed in the yard had to be demolished. Inside, floors are gone, walls are damaged and sheetrock and insulation fall from a hole in roof.

“We're going into a new year with the same damage that occurred in September with the hurricane,” 23-year-old Kamri Butler said.

A week after the Aug. 29 storm, they called their insurance company. The adjuster came out four months later in December.

“They told us that some of the damage would not be covered,” she said.

That's when they decided to call an attorney.

“We needed to get some work done. We thought maybe if we put a little fire under the insurance company, you know, they'll be willing to help us a little bit faster,” Butler said.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY ON WWLTV.COM

Homeowners across southwest Louisiana are struggling with insurance.

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 23:16:07 GMT

There are countless stories from Louisianans whose insurance companies aren't paying out claims properly following hurricane damage.

This past year, the South was ravaged by storms and now insurance companies are refusing to pay out assessment claims. Tara Parks in Lake Charles, Louisiana had her home devastated by Hurricane Laura. When her insurance company claimed the assessment of damages to her house was bogus she resorted to TikTok and shared her story. You shouldn't have to resort to TikTok! Another Lake Charles woman impacted by both Hurricane Laura and Delta said she spoke to 3 different field adjustors and 5 different desk adjustors and she still doesn't know what the payout will be on her home.

We want to hear your stories and share them!

La. Dept. Of Insurance Admits They're Blind To Car Insurer Rate-Setting Practices As Consumer Reports Exposes Price Gouging

Tue, 03 Mar 2020 22:57:25 GMT

Donelon’s Chief Actuary: “The regulator won’t necessarily know what the insurance company is doing or what goes into their models. Heck, we don’t even know half the models’ names.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 26, 2020

Contact: info@realreformla.com

Yesterday, Consumer Reports magazine released a stunning report exposing that car insurance companies use increasingly secretive and complex rate setting models to overcharge drivers and jack up profits, regardless of someone’s risk on the road. In the report, the Louisiana Department of Insurance admitted they had no way of knowing how insurers are forming rate-setting models, saying “heck, we don’t even know half the models’ names.”

The report was the results of a months-long investigation into a proposed car insurance rate setting scheme in Maryland. That scheme was mirrored around the country, sometimes without regulators even knowing.

In Maryland, where regulators were able to demand transparency and make documents public, it was exposed that Allstate intended to gouge a group of “suckers” by hiking their rates because an algorithm predicted those customers would tolerate the large rate increase. Not because their risk had increased. Not because their driving behavior had changed. But because Allstate predicted they could be squeezed for more money.

While those “suckers” were being charged extra, Allstate promised regulators they would cut rates for drivers they acknowledged were being overcharged. But when regulators demanded transparency, it turned out the discounts were practically non-existent, capped at 0.5% and often lower than that.

According to Consumer Reports and experts they spoke to these practices are also being used by other insurers and in other states—possibly in complete secrecy.

When Consumer Reports reached out to Louisiana Department of Insurance Chief Actuary Rich Piazza, he admitted that his department was largely in the dark on insurance rate setting models, saying: “they don’t lie; they just don’t tell you unless you ask the right set of questions. The regulator won’t necessarily know what the insurance company is doing or what goes into their models. Heck, we don’t even know half the models’ names.”

Recent reporting in Louisiana has exposed that insurance companies arbitrarily penalize returning military veterans and single women with higher rates, but this Consumer Reports article exposes the extent of insurance companies' unethical drive for more profits—and the inability of the Louisiana Department of Insurance to do their jobs and stop it.

See below for a statement from Real Reform Louisiana Executive Director Eric Holl in response to this shocking report:

“Your insurance rate should be based on your driving record—but insurance companies are arbitrarily gouging drivers to pad insurance company profits. Here in Louisiana, our insurance commissioner is asleep at the wheel, with his own experts admitting they don’t know how insurance companies set their rates. We need real insurance reform to stop the price gouging, bring transparency to rate-setting and lower rates.”

READ THE FULL CONSUMER REPORTS ARTICLE HERE

Bayou Brief: In Louisiana, Auto Insurers Have a License to Discriminate

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 16:57:54 GMT

Nola.com: The typical Louisiana driver overpays for car insurance by $1,159 a year, report says

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 16:36:16 GMT

From nola.com:

Drivers in Louisiana already pay some of the highest rates for car insurance in the country. A new report suggests local drivers also lead the country in the amount they overpay for coverage.

Drivers with car insurance policies in Louisiana paid $3,111 a year on average for 12-month coverage in 2018, the highest rate in the nation, according to data analyzed by Gabi, an insurance comparison website and app. Gabi’s analysis looked at premiums paid by more than 130,000 users nationwide, comparing them to average rates in each region for multiple major insurance companies.

To develop the analysis, drivers shared information with Gabi about how much they pay for insurance and basic policy details. Gabi then took that information and compared it to averages for that type of driver and policy, among multiple major insurance companies. The analysis found the average Louisiana driver paid roughly $1,159 more than they could have for car insurance in 2018.

That was more than a third of the total average premium paid by local drivers, and the highest amount overpaid in all 50 states.

Louisiana remains among the most expensive states for car insurance because of a number of factors, including a high rate of uninsured drivers as well as a high rate of auto litigation. Many Louisiana drivers who do buy insurance have minimum coverage. As a result, many turn to the courts to get larger payouts in the case of a serious accident.

Last year, state regulators approved rate hikes for multiple insurers, though there are signs rates may be leveling out. State Farm said in February it would cut auto rates by 3.2 percent this spring. State Farm insures roughly a third of all Louisiana drivers.

State Farm to cut Louisiana auto insurance rates again

Nationwide, a rise in accidents caused by distracted driving, linked to growing smartphone use in vehicles, has led to rising rates. Distracted drivers killed 3,450 people and injured another 391,000 in 2016, according to the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In an emailed explanation, Hanno Fichtner, CEO of Gabi, noted a number of factors affect how much an individual pays for car insurance, including one’s credit score and where you live. (Cities have a higher density of drivers and tend to have more accidents reported, thus higher premiums.)

Rates are also lower in states like Maine where there are many different insurance providers and competition is high, Fichtner said. Maine drivers paid an average premium of $1,447 a year in 2018, according to the Gabi analysis. Still, Maine drivers overpaid for insurance, to the tune of about $673 a year, or nearly half the total average 12-month payment.

The one way drivers can consistently lower their auto insurance rate? Shop around, the report says.

Indeed, Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has repeatedly urged drivers facing a rate hike to shop for a new policy. Insurers in Louisiana get one rate increase or decrease per year. Officials recommend reassessing your coverage options at least once a year.

Here’s a look at the top 10 states where Gabi found drivers overpay for car insurance the most. States are ranked by the total amount overpaid on average.

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