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.
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. 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. 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.
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.
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.
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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 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.
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.