Louisiana lawmakers are saying the state is facing an auto insurance crisis and have introduced a handful of bills meant to lower those costs.
“You can drive to Texas, Mississippi, or Arkansas, and sometimes cut your rates in half, and that’s unacceptable,” Rep. Gabe Firment (R-Pollock) said in a recent story posted by WGNO, adding that House Speaker Phillip DeVillier “recognized the urgency to do something about the automobile insurance crisis.”
Firment said Louisiana had 66,000 bodily injury claims related to auto accidents in 2021. The state of New York, with more than four times the population, had 60,000 such claims that year.
The legislation introduced target what lawmakers call the root causes of the crisis: excessive litigation, bodily injury claims and large jury verdicts.
The bills would cap certain damages, restrict payouts to claimants mostly at fault, repeal pro-plaintiff legal presumptions and increase transparency in trials and billing. Other legislation would limit attorney fees, reduce venue shopping and address deceptive legal advertising and third-party litigation funding.
Gov. Jeff Landry had proposed insurance reform measures that also focused on home insurance rates.
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple also is pushing for auto insurance reform.
Small businesses also are suffering because of insurance costs.
“Louisiana’s small business owners are struggling with skyrocketing insurance costs, and stopping lawsuit abuse is essential to fixing the problem,” NFIB State Director Leah Long said. “Small businesses (are telling) their legislators these commonsense reforms are needed to stabilize the insurance market, reduce costs and ensure we have a legal system that treats everyone fairly.”
NFIB supports legislation that would:
* Ensure medical damages in personal injury cases are placed in a trust and used as intended, preventing excess costs from driving up insurance rates.
* Establish a $750,000 cap on non-economic damages such as pain and suffering to provide more predictability in insurance claims.
* Prevent individuals who are 50% or more at fault from recovering damages, reducing frivolous claims that inflate insurance premiums.
* Allow courts to consider both billed and paid medical costs in claims, preventing excessive awards contributing to rising insurance expenses.
* Require personal injury attorneys to notify defendants and their insurers within 10 days of taking a case, reducing litigation delays and uncertainty.
“Lawsuit abuse drives up insurance costs and takes money away from business growth, hiring, and community support,” Long said. “Passing these bills would ensure fairness and provide Main Street businesses with the certainty they need to focus on serving their customers and strengthening Louisiana’s economy.”