During the upcoming session, lawmakers will look at ways to reduce auto insurance rates, but one Senator says he’s filed a few bills that he says are common-sense solutions. Alexandria Democrat Jay Luneau says one of his bills would prevent insurance companies from charging you more for your insurance just because you have a lower credit rating.
“It doesn’t mean that they are bad drivers, it doesn’t mean that they are a risk and there is no data associated with that to prove otherwise. It would prohibit them from using those if you have a good five-year driving record,” says Luneau.
Real Reform Louisiana claims a person with a DWI and a high credit rating pays less for insurance than a person with a clean record but low credit score.
Luneau says most insurers in Louisiana also raise rates on people who are widowed. His second bill would end that practice.
“It deals with what I call the widow, or widower tax, and would deal with that,” says Luneau.
His third bill deals with incidents where Louisianans in the military are deployed overseas, don’t renew their insurance for six months and are hit with a premium increase. Luneau says that’s wrong.
“They turn their license plate in, they drop the insurance on their vehicle and let the vehicle sit up until they come back from their deployment, and are greeted with a higher insurance rate,” says Luneau.
His fourth bill would block insurers from charging someone a higher premium on the basis of their sex alone, once they are older than 25.
