Letters: A better investigative system would deter fraudulent auto claims

Like many citizens of Louisiana, I recently received a letter from Gov. Jeff Landry highlighting the reform package to reduce high auto insurance costs.

He highlighted four bills aimed at frivolous lawsuits. Unfortunately, the bills do not provide additional resources for conducting investigations and for increasing the penalty for anyone associated with fraudulent claims.

As prescribed by the Louisiana Department of Insurance, Division of Insurance Fraud, I reported a fraudulent auto accident claim that resulted in a payout to an individual who was not involved in the accident. Six months later, I contacted the Office of Insurance Fraud to get a progress update on the investigation, and I was sent an email containing the following:

"We are not allowed to tell anyone the status of their submission. First, because status updates are not allowed for anyone because of the confidentiality statute in Title 22. This even includes updating the submitter, to protect the submitter from any liability in reporting the suspected fraud.

Second, we don't provide status updates because not all our files are the same."

So, I reported a known fraudulent auto incident claim as prescribed by the Louisiana Department of Insurance, which resulted in a loss of both property and time for me, and I am unable to get an update on the status of the investigation. Without this information, how am I able to recoup my losses? I have contacted the Louisiana State Police and was told that since the investigation is being handled by the Department of Insurance that it is outside of their jurisdiction.

The process is obviously broken. There needs to be a robust investigation with severe penalties for all parties involved with any fraudulent claim, including the doctors and lawyers. This alone would significantly reduce the number of fraudulent auto accident claims.

EDDIE HATTIER

Lacombe