Taking a few minutes to call your elected officials could save you hundreds or thousands on your auto insurance next year! That’s not a commercial. That’s reality!
Our state is ranked number 1 in the nation when it comes to auto insurance unaffordability. What do I mean? If you take the average income in Louisiana and compare it to the average auto insurance premium, the insurance premium is statistically (and literally) unaffordable. And that is not even including the cost of your deductibles!
Of course, that is not news to anyone – especially to business owners who know that there are only a handful of companies in the entire state that will write commercial auto insurance policies. But, why are our rates so high? While there are multiple reasons, it can all be traced back to government policies trying to manipulate what is supposed to be a free market system. Naturally the state tried to pick winners and losers… and we were all fortunate enough to be chosen as the losers. Our state’s policies have created such a litigious environment that is too costly for many insurance companies to come into or even remain in our great state. What do fewer insurance companies equal? Less competition. And less competition means they can charge what they want.
The good news is that the legislature has a solution to bring down our auto insurance costs through a bill put together by Rep. Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge). His bill – HB 372 – is called the Omnibus Premium Reduction Act of 2019 and it will do exactly what the name says it will: reduce your premiums. As a member of the House Insurance Committee for 12 years and chairman for the past 4 years, no one is more qualified to fix our broken insurance system and bring much needed relief to us all.
Rep. Talbot’s bill was created with input from insurance companies and attorneys. It is the ultimate compromise where everyone has come together to focus on one thing: lowering your premiums. He has taken an approach that every government official should take. He has looked at what was working in other states, studied what they were doing, asked the insurance companies and attorneys for feedback, and then created good legislation to bring best practices to Louisiana.
Voting on HB 372 really boils down to whether or not your elected officials are down here representing you and your best interests. Your elected officials can help you by voting FOR HB 372. That is all they have to do to lower your auto insurance premiums. Or, they can vote against you by voting against HB 372.
This bill will be voted on tomorrow: Tuesday – April 23rd. Despite this bill being a “no brainer”, this is not guaranteed to pass. You MUST call YOUR State Representative and tell them to vote YES for HB 372. Tell them to vote YES to lower your auto insurance premiums.
As your State Representative, I’ll proudly vote in support of you, your family, and Rep. Talbot’s HB 372. But, we can’t pass this bill through the House and Senate without your support and phone calls. Taking a few minutes to call your elected officials could save you hundreds or thousands on your auto insurance premiums next year!
Dodie Horton is Louisiana State Representative for District 9
