Insurance commissioner touts rate decreases and says more are coming

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said this year’s rate decreases are a sign of a healthy insurance marketplace.

“So, we are starting to attract new capital, we are starting to see companies want to come and do business, and that’s good for consumers because that creates competition,” Temple said.

Forty companies have filed personal auto rate decreases in the past year, and 19 new companies have started the process of moving into the state, Temple told the Baton Rouge Press Club.

Temple said Louisiana is in a unique position. On average, the state does not have significantly more accidents than any other state, but injury claims go to court two times the national average.

“Think about that — y’all have brittle bones," he joked. “I mean, that’s what it would suggest. We get injured more easily at twice the national average. That’s a huge outlier,” Temple said.

He said a large problem is the legal environment and a culture where a lawyer is the first call after a wreck.

Temple’s goal is focusing on what can be controlled right now, like making sure insurance companies compete for business by shopping around for the best deal.

“You work extremely hard for the money you earn to pay that premium. Make the insurance company work just as hard to earn your dollars,” Temple said.

Temple said the personal auto insurance reforms passed by the legislature last year have not hit the market yet, so even more savings could be on the way. Commercial auto is still struggling, he said, in large part due to high settlements in court, with those payouts being passed down to premiums.

Temple said more legal reform is needed to address that problem in the future.

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