As Louisiana insurance rates keep rising, so do frustrations

A Louisiana businessman says his insurance rates are up over 40% and he’s not sure how long he can take it. Todd Hine, owner of Hine Environmental Services, a small waste services business in Sulphur, says he’s been told auto insurance rates are going up because of the state’s legal climate.

Hine likens it to a casino, saying, “all these people go in and go in. And then, you have these people where every now and then, if they get into an accident, they’ll hit the jackpot. But we as the citizens pay for it every single time.”

Hine says his insurance payments went from 300 thousand dollars to over a million, which he was able to negotiate down. He feels increasingly frustrated that he keeps having to pay more.

“I’ve asked questions, you know, ‘why is this?'” he says. “And they’re like, ‘it’s the market, it’s the market.’ And you know, it’s like what’s the market?”

Hine met with Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple, who told him insurance relief will come from tort reform legislation. Though that’s on hold after Governor Jeff Landry vetoed a bill that attempted to prevent windfall judgments for car crash victims. Landry expressed concern the bill would prevent a car crash victim from getting the judgment they deserved. it would hurt the everyday working citizen. Hine says any insurance relief would help his company pay the bills and keep their customers.

“We have competitors that are, you know, 20 miles from us [in Texas] that pay less in insurance and their overhead is less so they can come in, you know, with the lower costs and provide a service that we provide also,” he says.