Should Louisiana put a limit on how many insurance adjusters can work on a single claim? [The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.]

Apr. 7—In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, policyholders across south Louisiana grumbled as insurance companies, often without notice, bounced their claims around among a seemingly endless string of adjusters.

Some faced as many as five adjusters in the first three months after the storm. With each switch-up, the claims process essentially starts anew.

Flooded with complaints, state Sen. Joseph Bouie, Jr., D-New Orleans, filed Senate Bill 13, which would prohibit insurance companies from assigning more than three adjusters to work a single claim.

Bouie said he suspects insurance companies use adjuster swapping tactics to wear policyholders down and get them to settle for less. In his estimation, three adjusters is enough to properly estimate damage on a claim.

"Why do you need to have a fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh or eighth adjuster?" Bouie said Wednesday during a Senate Insurance Committee hearing where his bill was considered.

But other lawmakers and insurance industry lobbyists questioned the cap. Several said they feared "unintended consequences" from putting the limit in place and wondered whether it might hurt consumers.

"There's no way this would work during a natural disaster like we've seen in the last few years," said state Sen. Robert Mills, R-Minden.

Bouie said he asked insurance industry critics to help him come up with a ceiling that works for them but was met with crickets. He said without putting the parameter in place, there's no way to know it won't work.

"Give me a number then or give me some other option that says here's how we will address this problem," Bouie said.

Senate Insurance Chair Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, noted that the upper chamber on Monday passed Senate Bill 198, which would require insurers to send policyholders a written status report on their claim if they're assigned three or more adjusters in a six-month period. The measure would also require insurers to provide the insured with a primary point of contact.

Eric Holl, executive director of Real Reform Louisiana, a nonprofit that advocates for more stringent consumer protections, said Bouie's legislation allows policyholders to "put their foot down."

"We have to give policyholders some control over this situation," Holl said. "There has to be a limit somewhere."

But Talbot wondered what might happen if a consumer reaches their third adjuster and still isn't satisfied.

"What if you're on a third adjuster and he's terrible?" Talbot added. "Then what?"

Lee Ann Alexander, a lobbyist with the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, said insurers need to have flexibility in the aftermath of a catastrophe to adjust claims, adding that a strict limit could hurt consumers.

"You may be pretty upset to find out that the fourth adjuster that would come out is the one who is going to say that your roof was totaled," Alexander said.

State Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Bossier City, pointed out that existing law defines an adjuster as "an individual who investigates or adjusts losses on behalf of an insurer."

"Anybody who works at that company that picks up that file is technically an adjuster," Peacock said, noting that the three-adjuster limit could be reached quicker than expected.

Oftentimes, policyholders will interact with at least two adjusters after submitting a claim. The first investigates damages on-the-ground, taking photos and measurements, and submitting a report with cost estimates. Then, a desk adjuster, working remotely, evaluates the field report and makes a decision about whether to cut a check.

Bouie said he only intended to put a limit on the number of adjusters that physically come out to inspect a policyholder's property.

Jimmy Ordeneux, a lobbyist representing the Louisiana Farm Bureau, said there are some circumstances where more adjusters are better.

"If you had a choice as a homeowner ... do you want one person to adjust the totality of your claim as it's dragging on or if it could be done with 10 people more efficiently would you prefer the latter as long as it didn't slow down the process," Ordeneux said.

State Sen. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, suggested amending Bouie's bill to require insurers to extend their coverage of policyholder's living expenses after a certain threshold of adjusters is passed.

"We cannot leave our constituents in the place they are and that's homeless, with six months to a years' worth of claims, with 20 claims adjusters," Jackson said.

State Sen. Jeremy Stine, R-Lake Charles, said that insurers' adjuster swapping tactics are "clearly a game" to wear policyholders down and suggested a measure that would require insurers to get consent from policyholders before switching adjusters.

Noting that the committee seemed uninterested in a cap on adjusters, Bouie volunteered to defer his bill so he could work on amendments.

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