Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple has struggled to secure a meeting with Governor Jeff Landry, despite Landry’s push to address the state’s sky-high auto insurance rates, currently the highest in the nation. Temple says he’s made every effort to talk but hasn’t been able to engage in a substantive discussion with the governor.
“I know the governor’s probably more than mad at me, but I have been trying to have a conversation with him. I’ve used every channel. Formal channels, informal channels and it hasn’t taken place.”
While Temple agrees with Landry that excessive claims and litigation drive up insurance costs, he disagrees with the governor’s focus on curbing legal advertising by injury attorneys. Temple calls that approach a “red herring,” arguing that advertising costs only account for a small fraction of rate calculations.
“It’s a red herring. It is not a driver of the rates. Again, if we want to have lower premiums, which I think everybody in this state does, we have to drive the cost of the claims down.”
Temple says that the legislative package he supports targets the real cost drivers, excessive bodily injury claims and litigation. Temple stresses the need to “bend the loss curve” to bring down rates, indicating that while there are disagreements, both he and Landry ultimately share a common goal: reducing Louisiana’s oppressive insurance premiums.
“We’re adults. We can have disagreements and see different views, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to work together to help bring relief to the citizens of Louisiana. That’s what I’m focused and committed to doing.”
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