One of many legal guidelines just lately handed by the Louisiana Legislature and signed into legislation by Governor John Bell Edwards is Senate Invoice 106, which went into impact on August 1, 2023.
SB 106 provides a brand new part to the Louisiana Policyholder Invoice of Rights, contained in La. R.S. 22:41, requiring insurers to:
[M]ake obtainable upon the written request of an insured any portion of the declare file, together with however not restricted to estimates, bids, plans, measurements, drawings, engineer reviews, contractor reviews, statements, images, video recordings, or some other paperwork or communications until the document is legally privileged that the insurer ready, had ready, or used throughout its adjustment of the insured’s declare.1
The legislation does add one exception within the case of fraud investigations:
An insurer could hold confidential any adjuster notes, logs, and some other paperwork or communications ready along side a fraud investigation.2
As we beforehand mentioned, SB 106 unanimously handed in each side of the Louisiana Legislature with full bipartisan help as a commonsense measure to make sure that policyholders are in possession of the identical paperwork their insurers use to guage their claims. Though a seemingly easy requirement, this transformation within the legislation clarifies that insurers should flip in your complete declare file upon written request.
After we ship a letter of illustration to an insurance coverage firm requesting your complete declare file, the insurance coverage firm representatives will generally solely launch sure paperwork, such because the licensed coverage, cost sheets, and a few estimates. We should request sure paperwork individually, and so they magically hold developing with new paperwork not beforehand disclosed. Nevertheless, after submitting a lawsuit, your complete declare file is discoverable, and a number of case administration orders for Louisiana hurricane litigation require the disclosure of your complete declare file, together with claims notes. These claims notes can usually reveal the place a declare went flawed and what must be achieved to resolve it.
SB 106 thus assists policyholders and their advocates even the taking part in discipline, disallowing an insurer from probably concealing unfavorable data in its claims notes till submitting a lawsuit. In requiring extra full disclosure from the insurer, SB 106 ought to facilitate higher claims dealing with practices and extra environment friendly communications.
Anybody sending a letter of illustration to an insurance coverage firm from this level ahead ought to take into account citing La. R.S. 22:41(p) as authorized authority and request your complete declare file. Though the Louisiana Policyholder Invoice of Rights, by its personal language, is informative and doesn’t present a separate explanation for motion for violations of its provisions, failure to show over the declare file (within the absence of a legit fraud investigation) and abide by the adjustments from SB 106 ought to end in higher scrutiny when analyzing associated points, like breach of contract and unhealthy religion claims dealing with.
Bear in mind, the Hurricane Ida Deadline is August 29—The Finish Is Now! Open Hurricane Ida claims have to be within the fingers of an legal professional and a lawsuit filed now earlier than it’s too late.
Quote of the day:
Politics is simply too severe a matter to be left to the politicians.
—Charles de Gaulle
2 Id.
