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Georgia and Louisiana Pass Sweeping Tort Reform Legislation. What Does It Aim to Do and What Are the Implications for Insurers?
Timothy Fletcher
Region: North America
English

Update to our April 28, 2023 blog:

Louisiana Governor Signs Tort Reform Package

In what could signal the start of a national tort reform trend, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed a package of bills aimed at reforming that state’s increasingly difficult legal environment while also bringing premium relief to policyholders.

The package includes the following:

  • House Bill 431 – Establishes a bar to recovery for any party found more than 51% at fault in an accident, ending “pure” comparative which provided for recovery irrespective of fault.
  • House Bill 434 – Prohibits uninsured drivers from recovering for the first $100,000 in bodily injury or property damage following an accident. (According to the Insurance Information Institute, some 13.7% of all drivers in Louisiana are uninsured, ranking the state 23rd in the U.S.)1
  • House Bill 450 – Revokes the state’s “Housley Presumption,” which gives a presumption to plaintiffs that an accident caused injury if certain conditions are met. Under the new legislation, plaintiffs must show that injuries actually occurred during the accident.
  • House Bill 549 – Provides a premium discount for commercial vehicles equipped with dashcam cameras and telematic systems.

Also included in the package is a widely debated provision that grants the state’s insurance commissioner authority to reject “excessive” rates and demand refunds regardless of market conditions. (Louisiana is a “file and use” state.)

With the signing comes expectation that the reforms will soon generate premium relief, as is the case in Georgia, which passed its own significant tort reform package in April.

Endnote

  1. https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-uninsured-motorists#:~:text=More%20than%20half%20of%20the,rates%20below%20the%20countrywide%20rate.

Timothy Fletcher

Sr. Emerging Issues Specialist

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