Rising auto insurance rates in Louisiana and frustrations over insurers’ responses to Hurricane Ida may be dampening some state lawmakers’ support for civil litigation reforms, but tort-reform advocates say previously passed reforms will pay off in time.
Some GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Gregory Miller (R-Norco), the chairman of the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee, have been reluctant to support new tort reforms because previous legislation has yet to produce tangible results for consumers in the state, according to news media reports.
The Civil Justice Reform Act of 2020, authored by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder (R-Gonzales), aimed to cut civil legal costs to insurers and other businesses, potentially lowering premiums. But Bankrate.com reported last month that Louisiana still has the highest auto insurance rates in the nation, costing an average of $2,712 annually for full coverage.
The Civil Justice Reform Act cut the financial threshold for the right to a jury trial from $50,000 to $10,000, limited recoverable medical expenses in some circumstances, allowed juries to know when plaintiffs have worn seat belts in personal injury cases and barred litigants from disclosing to jurors the identities of insurers by name.
Lana Venable, executive director of Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch, said part of the reason for the lack of tangible consumer benefits coming from the reform involves the coronavirus pandemic, which she called “a total game-changer.”
“While proponents of the legislation never claimed results would be immediate, the extended shutdown of the court system has further complicated things,” Venable told the Louisiana Record in an email. “An ‘apples-to-apples’ comparison of the expected impact of these reforms prior to the pandemic is simply not possible.”
Additional reforms to make the state’s legal climate less burdensome to businesses will need to be passed, she said.
“We must continue to pursue substantive improvements to our civil-justice system that will reduce the costs passed down to consumers in all sectors of Louisiana’s economy,” Venable said.