2022 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 140
BY SENATOR STINE
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Commissioner of Insurance to study the issue of insurers failing to
timely pay property damage claims after a presidentially or gubernatorially declared
disaster or emergency.
WHEREAS, R.S. 22:41(13) requires an insurer pay property damage claims within
thirty days after satisfactory proof of loss is provided, and if an insurer fails to pay within
thirty days, the insurer can be deemed in violation of R.S. 22:1892 and 1973; and
WHEREAS, an insurer is required to pay a property damage claim within thirty days,
and if an insurer fails to pay within thirty days, an insurer owes his policyholder the amount
of loss found due, along with paying his policyholder fifty percent on the amount due or one
thousand dollars, whichever is greater, or if a partial payment is made, fifty percent of the
difference between the amount paid and the amount of loss, as well as reasonable attorney
fees and costs when such failure is found to be arbitrary, capricious, or without probable
cause according to R.S. 22:1892(B)(1)(a); and
WHEREAS, effective August 1, 2021, if a presidentially or gubernatorially disaster
or emergency is declared, an insurer is required to pay a property damage claim within thirty
days, and if an insurer fails to pay within thirty days, the insurer owes his policyholder the
amount of loss found due, along with paying his policyholder fifty percent on the amount
due or two thousand five hundred dollars or whichever is greater, or if a partial payment is
made, fifty percent of the difference between the amount paid and the amount of loss, along
with paying reasonable attorney fees and costs, or two thousand five hundred dollars,
whichever is greater pursuant to R.S. 22:1973 and 1892(B)(1)(b); and
WHEREAS, policyholders in this state have struggled with insurance companies to
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rebuild and recover from the devastation caused by hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta, and Ida
as a result of insurers failing to pay property damage claims within thirty days as required
by R.S. 22:41(13), 1892, and 1973; and
WHEREAS, policyholders have resorted to hiring attorneys, public adjusters, and
filing nearly six thousand seven hundred complaints with the Commissioner of Insurance
in hopes that their insurer will pay the property damage claims owed in order for them to
once again live in their own homes; and
WHEREAS, an insurer owes his policyholder a duty of good faith and fair dealing,
which includes paying a settlement within thirty days after an agreement is reduced to
writing, and if an insurer breaches this duty, the insurer may owe, in addition to any general
or special damages to which a policyholder is entitled for breach of the imposed duty,
penalties assessed against the insurer in an amount not to exceed two times the damages
sustained or five thousand dollars, whichever is greater pursuant to R.S. 22:1973; and
WHEREAS, ensuring there are effective legal remedies to provide punitive damages
that discourage insurers from acting in bad faith following a presidentially or gubernatorially
disaster or emergency is a critical public policy priority of this state; and
WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature of Louisiana that our citizens have
access to a healthy, competitive insurance market with insurers that treat policyholders fairly
and with good faith and pay property damage claims in a timely manner.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the Commissioner of Insurance to study the issue of insurers
failing to timely pay property damage claims after a presidentially or gubernatorially
declared disaster or emergency and to report his findings and recommendations to the Senate
and House Committees on insurance not later than February 1, 2023.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in conducting the study, the Commissioner of
Insurance shall answer the following questions:
(1) What is the number of fifty percent damages penalties and the total dollar amount
paid pursuant to R.S. 22:1892(B)(1)(a) and (b) that have been awarded to policyholders from
each of the top twenty-five market share homeowners' insurers in this state since 2020 on
claims resulting from hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta, and Ida?
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(2) What is the number of fifty percent damages penalties and the total dollar amount
paid pursuant to R.S. 22:1892(B)(1)(a) and (b) that have been awarded to policyholders from
each of the top twenty-five market share commercial property insurers in Louisiana since
2020 on claims resulting from hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta, and Ida?
(3) What is the number of two times damages penalties and the total dollar amount
paid pursuant to R.S. 22:1973(C) that have been awarded to policyholders from each of the
top twenty-five market share homeowners' insurers in Louisiana since 2020 on homeowner's
claims resulting from hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta, and Ida?
(4) What is the total dollar amount of two times damages penalties and the total
dollar amount paid pursuant to R.S. 22:1973(C) that have been awarded to policyholders
from each of the top twenty-five market share commercial insurers in this state since 2020
on homeowners' claims resulting from hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta, and Ida?
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Commissioner of Insurance.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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