The Louisiana House approved on Friday afternoon a proposal that will change the legal system for cases involving car accidents. Chalmette Representative Ray Garofalo says this tort reform bill will lower auto insurance rates.
“The bill states there will be a mandatory 10-percent reduction on personal insurance policies and realistictly we believe that it will be much higher,” said Garofalo.
But Baton Rouge Representative Ted James says there’s no specific language in the bill that says insurance companies must reduce rates.
“And I want the folks that have been listening for over a year about this to note that the bill shall when justified, so it’s still not a guarantee,” said James.
Garofalo says every insurance company has told them they’ll lower rates by at least 10-percent if this bill passes.
The legislation lowers the jury threshold from 50-thousand to five-thousand dollars. But Baton Rouge Representative Denise Marcelle says this will actually hurt an injured person’s ability to recover damages they deserve and in a timely manner.
“Many of the judges that I have gotten calls from on this particular piece of legislation says it’s going to clog up the system,” said Marcelle.
Supporters say the state’s high jury threshold is a big reason why our auto insurance rates are the second-highest in the nation. Freshman Representative Larry Frieman from Abita Springs says when he campaigned, voters complained about our high rates and this measure is our best vehicle to lowering premiums.
“I came here to get something done, I think all of the freshmen in this room to get something done and I think this is the best way to do it,” said Frieman.
The vote was 72-28 in favor of the measure and heads back to the Senate to see if they agree to House changes to the bill.
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