Longtime advocate: Insurance chief from Louisiana could be bad news for consumers

Robert Hunter has spent decades in the insurance industry as a consumer advocate. When he heard the name of the man being considered for the state's insurance regulator job, he was "shocked."

Gov. Rick Scott's office confirmed Monday that Ron Henderson, Louisiana's deputy insurance commissioner for consumer advocacy, is being considered as the replacement for Kevin McCarty, who has been commissioner of Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation since 2003 (and is favored by Hunter, incidentally).

"It's really shocking to me that a guy who's supposed to be in consumer advocacy I haven't heard of," said Hunter, who was Texas insurance commissioner and founder of the National Insurance Consumer Organization before his current job as insurance director for the Consumer Federation of America. "I know everyone who's done anything in consumer work."

The size of Hunter's Rolodex aside, he said hiring an insurance regulator from Louisiana could be bad for consumers in Florida.

The insurance commissioner plays a critical role in setting rates for property insurance, and Hunter said Louisiana's reputation for in the industry is decidedly not pro-consumer.

"Louisiana's one of the worst states in the country for insurance regulation," he said. "They just don't regulate. They've done a very bad job protecting consumers."

Insurance rates in Louisiana have risen twice as fast as the rest of the country, said Hunter, who recently started a study on 20 years of rate increases.

Reference : Tampa Bay Times

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Louisiana Auto Insurance Laws and Regulations

Louisiana follows a “fault” system when it comes to issues of liability and insurance coverage after an accident. This means that a driver who is legally at fault for causing a car accident is liable (usually through an insurance carrier) for any personal injury or property damage resulting from the crash. In Louisiana, a person who has been injured in an auto accident can usually proceed by:

1. filing a claim with his or her own insurance company
2. filing a claim with the other driver’s insurance company
3. filing a personal injury lawsuit 

(Note: In no-fault car insurance states, an injured motorist must first exhaust his or her own car insurance policy limits or reach a statutory threshold of damages before pursuing compensation from another driver, regardless of who was at fault.  Remedies are also limited in these states.)

Learn more about key Louisiana laws related to car accident claims and settlements, read Car Accident Laws in Louisiana.

Minimum Car Insurance Requirements in Louisiana

Louisiana law requires that the owner of a motor vehicle carry liability insurance. This insurance is meant to provide financial protection in the event that the vehicle owner or anyone else is injured in an accident involving the vehicle. Under Louisiana law, the minimum coverage a driver is required to carry is:

1. $15,000 for the injury or death of a single person (yourself, a passenger, another driver, pedestrian, etc.)
2. $30,000 for the injury or death of multiple people in a single accident
3. $25,000 for property damage (i.e. damage to a vehicle)

It should be noted that while Louisiana law requires only these minimum coverage amounts, it is usually a good idea to carry a car insurance policy that provides more coverage. If you are found liable for an accident where the costs (medical bills, car repairs, etc.) exceed the limits of your policy, then you may be held personally liable for the difference.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Louisiana

Louisiana requires that every car insurance policy sold in the state include uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UIM), unless the customer explicity declines UIM coverage in writing.

UIM coverage is a feature of your own policy that is intended to protect you if you are injured by an at-fault driver who has no car insurance at all, or has an insufficient amount of insurance to cover the damages caused by the accident.

For example, let’s say you’re in an accident where the at-fault driver has the state minimum of $15,000. But your damages -- medical bills and vehicle damage -- add up to $25,000. Assuming you have adequate UIM coverage, it would kick in to pay for the remaining $10,000.

Getting More Information 

For more information on Louisiana’s motor vehicle insurance requirements straight from the government, check out the Louisiana Department of Public Safety’s Required Proof of Liability Insurance Prior to Registration of Vehicles web page.

Reference:  All About Car Accidents

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Google Poised to Enter U.S. Auto Insurance Market: Report

Giant search engine Google, which already offers auto insurance online in the United Kingdom, could soon be selling auto insurance online in the U.S.

Google Compare Auto Insurance Services Inc., its online auto insurance shopper, has been licensed to sell insurance in at least 26 states and is working with several insurers including Dairyland, MetLife and Mercury Insurance, Forester Research’s Ellen Carney reported in her blog this week.

Carney reports that Google has been working on the project for more than two years and could finally launch later this quarter in California, followed by Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas. According to the Forester Research technology expert, Google could be working with CoverHound, which currently offers online quotes for multiple insurers including Hartford, esurance, 2st Century, Travelers, Safeco, National General, Progressive, Foremost, Plymouth Rock and others.

Partnership Report

Also, Conor Dougherty of the New York Times technology blog Bits reported that Google recently formed a partnership with the Virginia-based insurance comparison shopping site CompareNow.com. Comparenow, which was launched in 2013, allows users who  complete a single, simplified form to obtain comparison quotes from multiple carriers, and buy a policy online, by phone or through a local agent.

Google could present formidable competition for other insurance sellers. As many as two-thirds (67 percent) of insurance customers said they would consider purchasing insurance products from organizations other than insurers, including 23 percent who would consider buying from online service providers such as Google and Amazon, according to research by Accenture.

“Competition in the insurance industry could quickly intensify as consumers become open to buying insurance not only from traditional competitors such as banks but also from Internet giants,” Michael Lyman, managing director for management consulting within Accenture’s Insurance industry practice, said in February upon release of his study.

However, another report, this one by TransUnion, indicated that shopping for auto insurance online may have peaked already. It found that shopping rates for auto insurance were down about 3 percent in the 12 months ending Feb 2014 relative to a year earlier.

“We are finding that despite billions of dollars being spent on advertising each year, the percentage of consumers shopping for auto insurance has been dropping for approximately the last two years,” said Mark McElroy, executive vice president of TransUnion’s insurance business unit at the release of the study. “This places additional pressure on insurance carriers as their pool of potential customers declines.”

Google Compare (google.co.uk) launched in the UK in 2012. In addition to insurance, the service allows consumers to comparison shop for credit card offers, travel insurance and mortgages.

Google has also been in the forefront of the development of driverless vehicles.

Google Inc. does own the site, GoogleCompare.com, however the site is not operational.

Google has not responded to Insurance Journal requests for more information. The tech giant told Reuters and the Wall Street Journal it does not comment on speculation.

Reference : http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2015/01/09/353593.htm

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Louisiana Health Insurance

 Overview

If you live in Louisiana and either buy your own health insurance or are currently uninsured, this guide is for you. It will help you:

 Determine whether you qualify for a tax credit to help you pay for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare)

 Compare private health plans using U.S. News & World Report's health insurance ratings for Louisiana

If you are enrolling in an Obamacare insurance plan through Healthcare.gov, your state's exchange, or a broker, the official 2015 Open Enrollment period is from November 15, 2014 through February 15, 2015.

Do I Have To Buy Health Insurance?

You may have heard that everyone in Louisiana must have health insurance in 2015 or pay a penalty – Obamacare's so-called “individual mandate.” With a few exceptions, this is true.

For 2015, not carrying insurance will cost $325 per adult plus $162.50 per child (up to $975 per family) or 2 percent of your family’s income, whichever is more.

U.S. News generally recommends getting health insurance of some kind, even if it is only catastrophic coverage. That's because unexpected medical expenses can easily bankrupt anyone who is uninsured.

Learn more about why it's important to sign-up for health insurance

Understand more about the Obamacare tax penalty

If your health insurance policy was cancelled in fall 2014, call your insurer to verify whether your plan is still available.


For more details,VISIT : http://health.usnews.com/health-insurance/louisiana

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