After an election season in which conservative Republicans made Louisiana’s high auto insurance rates a campaign issue, GOP lawmakers expect efforts to try to limit damages awarded in car wreck lawsuits to be front and center in the 2020 legislative session.
Business groups are pushing the “tort reform” proposals, saying Louisiana’s legal climate encourages people in vehicle accidents to sue insurance companies, driving up automobile insurance rates. They say that if the state changes the rules for accessing civil courts and suing over injuries, that could help draw more companies to Louisiana and create competition that will force down rates. Critics counter that there’s no proof such legal system changes would lower rates and the changes could keep people injured in car accidents from adequate compensation while ignoring other reasons insurance premiums are so high.
A Senate committee packed with attorneys killed a sweeping House-backed civil litigation system rewrite earlier this year, and the issue shifted to the fall elections.
Rep. Sherman Mack, an Albany lawyer who is a leading contender to be House speaker in the upcoming term, describes civil litigation changes as the “biggest topic you’re going to hear most about in this next legislative session.”
Louisiana’s auto insurance rates are the second-highest in the nation, averaging around $2,200 per year, according to Bankrate.com and other websites that track the auto insurance industry.
Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards was repeatedly slammed in the November election by his unsuccessful Republican challenger, Eddie Rispone, for being a “trial lawyer.”
As he readies for his second term, Edwards says he’s willing to negotiate with lawmakers about possible changes he could support ahead of the legislative session beginning in March.
Among the “tort reform” ideas being suggested are: requiring use of jury trials more frequently so lawyers have to sell their cases for damages to more people than a single judge; placing caps on certain types of damages that can be awarded; forcing people who file auto accident lawsuits into pretrial negotiations; and increasing the time that accident victims have to file lawsuits, giving both sides more time to work out a settlement.
Opponents of the various proposals argue the insurance industry refuses to promise rate reductions with the changes. They say other issues—such as poor road conditions, distracted driving, DWI rates and large numbers of uninsured drivers—are more damaging to the state’s auto insurance rates than lawsuits. Read the full story from the Associated Press.
