The goal of two bills making their way through the legislature is to repeal the three-year rule, that ensures property policyholders their carrier cannot drop their coverage after three years. Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said the bills are focused on revitalizing the insurance marketplace in Louisiana.
“Which will bring much-needed relief to the consumers. That is the consumer protection that we all need and should want, which is choice,” said Temple.
But Ben Riggs at Real Reform Louisiana opposes the bills and said the state’s insurance crisis is two-fold with unavailability and unaffordability and loss of the three-year consumer protection will only exacerbate the crisis.
“It’s because they are going to make insurance less available because it’s going to force more people onto the insurer of last resort and more expensive because once you’re forced onto Citizens, you have to pay a 10% surcharge,” said Riggs.
Temple said the three-year rule is not enticing new insurers to come to the state, it’s merely a deterrent.
“Insurance is unavailable, it’s unaffordable and if we don’t start changing and shaping Louisiana to be a more competitive marketplace things are going to stay the same,” said Temple.
Riggs said the bills would allow carriers to cancel up to five percent of their three-year protected policies without cause and the option to cancel more with permission from the insurance commissioner and those requests would not be subject to public disclosure.
“So, this is a deeply concerning piece of legislation that we think really puts homeowners and small business owners at risk,” said Riggs.
The two bills are House Bill 611 and Senate Bill 370.
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