BATON ROUGE, La. (CALF) – With just days left until lawmakers convene for the 2023 Legislative Session, the big problem areas are coming into focus. This includes insurance reform, both for homeowners and for the automotive industry. Even without coastal communities in their constituencies, some central Louisiana lawmakers are leading efforts to prioritize reform.
In February, the state legislature approved $45 million in funding for the Insure Louisiana Incentive Program to encourage more home insurance companies to write policies in the state.
Since Hurricane Laura in 2020, insurance companies have continually gone out of business or gone bankrupt in the state, and several have stopped writing new policies for homeowners south of Interstate 10.
But even during the special session, lawmakers and Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon knew that funding the program wasn’t a permanent solution.
Many suggested that fortifying houses was a better way, including State Assemblyman Gabe Firment (R-District 22), who works full-time in the insurance industry.
“Competition is key,” Firment said. “To attract more businesses, we need to attract them to Louisiana. I think this fortified roof program is a great way to do that.”
The Fortified Roof Program was launched in 2022 but has not yet been funded.
Firment now has three bills that are intended to remedy the situation in other ways.
HB110 applies directly to insurance companies. It would require them to offer endorsements for policies with unfortified houses in order to update those houses and make them more resilient.
“South Louisiana, and Louisiana as a whole, just isn’t an attractive place to do business right now,” Firment said. “So we know the key over the long term is to build resilient structures that can withstand these hurricanes that we know are coming.”
HB126 applies to homeowners themselves. It establishes disaster savings accounts where funds deposited in the account are tax-deductible and accessible following a weather disaster.
HB183 would prohibit the so-called “assignment of performance contracts”, meaning policyholders’ rights could not be transferred from the policyholder to a contractor working on a claim, including the right to payments and the right to sue.
Among other things, Donelon has indicated its support for legislation such as HB183.
However, it’s not just home insurance that’s attracting attention. State Senator Jay Luneau authored SB11 that would ban insurance companies from including gender as part of underwriting auto insurance policies.
“We know from national statistics that women are better drivers,” Luneau said. “You get fewer fines. You get fewer DWIs. You get into less deadly wrecks. But in Louisiana they are charged higher insurance rates.”
According to The Zebra, a leading auto insurance comparison site, women pay an average of $37 more than men for auto insurance.
Luneau said it had been suggested that bundling insurance policies affected the price. Companies often assume men will buy auto insurance, so they are offered a lower rate so the company can make more money.
“I think we should have an even playing field. If women are better drivers, they should pay less, not more,” Luneau said. “So if we have it where it is right now, where they’re about to be calculated, that’s at least a start.”
The legislative period begins on April 10th.
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