La. enacts law protecting right to hire public insurance adjusters

By Wesley Muller
Contributing Writer

(lailluminator.com) — Property insurance companies will no longer be allowed to prevent their policyholders from hiring public adjusters.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Monday that he signed into law a bill from Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, and Rep. Ray Garafalo, R-Chalmette, that prohibits insurers from inserting anti-public adjuster clauses into property insurance policies. The law will take effect on Aug. 1.

In most cases when a person files an insurance claim, the insurance company assigns a claims adjuster to assess the property damage and calculate the payout amount based on the levels of coverage spelled out in that person’s policy.

Instead of using the company’s adjuster, a policyholder can hire a third-party public adjuster to assess the damage. The difference between the two is that a public adjuster works directly for the policyholder and not for the insurance company. In some cases, this can result in a higher payout for the policyholder.

Over the past few years, some insurance companies have been adding language into homeowner policies to prohibit their clients from using the services of a public adjuster. Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon issued a directive last year to try to put a stop to that trend, but an administrative law judge overruled his directive, prompting legislators to act on the matter.

This article originally published in the June 26, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.