State Officials Conduct Forum To Hear From Constituents

It was a packed, standing-room only crowd at the Kees Park Community Center in Pineville February 5 as many central Louisiana residents and business owners gladly shared with state officials the devastating affects the insurance industry has produced in their lives.

Jessica Herring of Vernon Parish, was one of the first speakers to jump at the chance to express her frustration with the high price of insurance in Louisiana during the town hall meeting organized by Representatives Mike Johnson (District 27), Gabe Firment (District 22) and Jason DeWitt (District 25) and featured special guest, Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple.

“My husband and I own a towing company and in 2018, one year coverage for one wrecker and one driver was $3,800,” she told the lawmakers. “In 2020, it increased to $4,400; in 2021, it went to $7,000; in 2022, it went to $9,200; in 2023, it was $11,000; this year, for 2024, we paid $14,000. That’s a 350% increase since 2018.”

Herring continued to say that they are struggling as a small business and pointed to one of the reasons she believes insurance rates are so high.

“When you drive down a road and every billboard you see is about suing big trucks, it’s a problem,” she said as the packed crowd applauded in approval. “I do believe there is legislation that could be introduced that presents a solution to this issue.”

LaSalle Parish was well represented at the town hall also, as several companies were in attendance, including McDowell Logging, Stott Wood Company, T&T Logging and McCartney Oil Company.

LaSalle Parish Police Juror and T&T Logging owner Tim Lasiter agreed with Herring’s assessment, and also took aim at lawsuits against 18-wheelers as a major reason for the high rates.

“The lawyers run the state for some reason and if something doesn’t change, trucking and logging in our state will not continue as we know it,” Lasiter said.

His son, Jeffery, didn’t sugarcoat his words and even with several lawyers in the room, referred to them as “blood sucking lawyers,” drawing approval from most in the room and raising eyebrows of others.

Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple would not identify attorneys as the main culprit in higher rates, but instead suggested the legislators continue their quest to unearth who is really getting rich with Louisiana’s high insurance rates.

“I say this all the time: We need to truly follow the money when it goes in and when it goes out,” Temple said. “That’s the conversation we’re trying to have at the Capitol. Is it going into the pockets of the insurance companies? You need to know. Is it going into the pockets of the attorneys? You need to know. Is is going into the pockets of the doctors? You need to know.”

Firment said that he helped organize the town hall to allow residents the opportunity to share their stories with legislators and Commissioner Temple because he knows most cannot attend hearings in Baton Rouge.

“I think the size of the crowd proves this is what people care about,” Firment, who chairs the House Insurance Committee said at the start of the meeting. “This is the number one issue to the people of Louisiana.”

During Herring’s speech, she told of logging companies in Vernon Parish she knows for a fact who have changed their headquarters to Texas but operate in Louisiana for lower insurance rates.

“You can travel 15 minutes across Sabine River to Texas, buy an acre of land and do business for half the cost,” she said. “We preach economic growth but if you can’t afford the insurance to do business then there’s no growth.”

Temple agreed with the Vernon Parish wrecker owner.

“Everybody has a story but this is about the economic development of the state. The legislators, the governor, a whole host have moved mountains to change and reform our state in the last year. They’ve tackled school choice, criminal justice reform making your neighborhoods safer, they’ve tackled economic development, they’ve tackled tax reform lowering taxes, they’re about to tackle DOTD, to get better roads and more bridges. But if you can’t afford to live in that safe neighborhood, or in that good school district that you want because your home owner’s insurance is too expensive. If you can’t afford to drive over that new bridge that’s been built or that new road that’s been paved because your auto insurance is too expensive, then we’ve got to ask ourselves what are we really focused on and what should we be focused on?” he said. “Insurance is key to our state’s economic development. It’s key to our state’s economic success. Agriculture/ timber is our state’s biggest industry and we’re choking that to death. We’ve got to address insurance reform.”

Firment noted that during the past year, many changes have been made regarding insurance, specifically property insurance. He noted that more companies are now offering property insurance which will eventually bring down prices.

The legislators plan on attacking the automobile insurance issue with more aggression when they return to session in April.

That will be welcomed news to all Louisianians, including William Nugent who spoke last Wednesday night at the town hall.

“I’m just an average Joe. They (insurance company) tell me that everyone got an increase because of wrecks. Well, that is just not acceptable,” Nugent said. “If you do not have a wreck or a ticket and you have a good driving record for years, why should you be punished for the actions of people who do not pay attention, drive distracted, drive drunk, do whatever and have wrecks? My rates and the rates of all these other folks in here go up – skyrocket.”

Nugent said lumping everyone into the same category is not fair and needs to be addressed.

“That’s the equivalent of your boss catching your coworker smoking drugs in his car in the parking lot and he comes back in and fires you,” he continued. “That would be like the police coming and arrested you for a burglary that I committed just because you were in the same city. That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Alexandria based Metro Towing owner John Carr noted that his insurance doubled in one year, went up 30% the next year and he just renewed where it went up another 20%.

“I cannot continue to absorb these kind of costs,” he said. “My (insurance) agents tell me that the rise is because of the cost of litigation. When 8 out of 10 claims involving commercial motor vehicles involve litigation it comes back to me. I’m paying and everybody else is paying.”

Carr said that he knows that one bill that address the massive insurance litigation issues was approved by legislators but Governor Jeff Landry refused to sign it into law.

“I wish it would get back to his desk and possibly get signed,” he said. “I think that could help.”

Commissioner Temple pointed out what everyone in the room knew and said he and his office is doing everything they can to get legislation to reduce insurance rates.

“I know that this room is packed, not because I’m popular, but because insurance is unpopular. I understand that this is the crisis that’s impacting our entire state. No matter whether you are from central Louisiana or south Louisiana, or Monroe or Shreveport, or down in Lake Charles, it is the issue. It’s on everybody’s mind. It’s on everybody’s kitchen table when trying to figure out what bills to pay. It’s in the board rooms and the conference rooms and the accountants’ rooms, when they are trying to figure out what do we do to address this crisis,” Temple said. “We know where we are. We know that we’re the most expense state in America for insurance. That means that you spend more of your wage on insurance as a percentage than anybody else in America. That means people in California don’t spend as much money as you do. That means people in New York don’t spend as much money as you do on your insurance. I stand here to tell you that you don’t deserve to spend that much on your insurance.”

He continued to note that other states’ legislators are constantly tweaking laws and regulations to make their states attractive for insurance companies to come and do business and Louisiana has to do the same thing.

“We’re behind,” he said. “If we want to start catching up we’ve got to start making big, bold leaps.”

Temple noted that a few years ago, Florida was in the same situation as Louisiana, but their legislators and governor took action to correct the issue. Today, their rates are going down despite the continual impact of hurricanes.

“The question we need to ask is why, when you move from Deridder to Jasper, TX, does your insurance drop by half?” he said. “That’s what we’re talking about. What laws do they have? What regulations do they have in place? Some of it is on the insurance company. Some of it is on the legal environment. Some of it’s on the medical. There’s a lot of room for improvement all the way around.”

For most of the business owners in the Kees Park Community Center, if something isn’t done soon, they will be out of business.

One 80-year-old lady spoke and said she could no longer afford her automobile insurance.

“If they go up again, I’m just going to drop it and drive without insurance,” she said. “They can arrest me if they want, but I can’t afford it.”

Firment and the other legislators present are hoping the public outcry will force their partners at the Capitol to finally make real changes to the state’s insurance industry so that no company is forced to close and everyone, including the elderly lady, can afford automobile insurance.

“If we’re going to be successful and find solutions, we have to think about the people back in our districts,” he said. “If we’re going to be successful, your legislators have to hear from you.”

Temple noted that the change has to come from the senators and representatives that the public sends to Baton Rouge.

“People are exploiting the system because the laws allow it. If you don’t like the way that it is, then you can change, you can empower these legislators. I’ll work with them – I am working with them,” Temple said. “We will make the changes so you don’t pay the highest premiums for your home and for your auto in the country. You are waiting for answers. You are waiting for reform.”