$22M-Plus Recovered for Louisiana Insurance Consumers in 2020

The Louisiana Department of Insurance Office of Consumer Services recovered more than $22 million for consumers from insurance companies through complaint resolution in 2020, the department reported.

All payouts are in excess of what insurers originally offered consumers for their claims. Last year’s recoveries are the largest since the Office of Consumer Services was created in 2015, according to the LDI.

“The 2020 hurricane season caused massive devastation to many homes and businesses in Louisiana, particularly in the southwestern part of our state,” Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said in a media release. “More than 75% of our recoveries came in the last quarter of the year, as we assisted consumers with their residential and commercial policies after hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta hit our coast.”

The $22 million savings comes from formal complaints regarding life and annuities, property/casualty, and health products.

When resolving a complaint leads to increases in the settlement value from an insurance company to their policyholder, the department considers the increase recovered funds.

The largest share of recoveries last year — $19,424,911 — came from complaints about property/casualty insurance products. These complaints are largely attributed to claims issues related to the three hurricanes that made landfall on the Louisiana coast. The storms combined caused more than $7.7 billion in paid claims or reserves by insurance companies in Louisiana at the end of the year.

In 2020, recoveries from health products accounted for $822,989 of the total. Life and annuity product complaints accounted for an additional $1,772,705.

Insurance consumers may file a formal complaint online by going to www.ldi.la.gov/fileacomplaint or by calling 1-800-259-5300.

Source: LDI

Topics Louisiana