Louisiana Enacts Law Protecting Right to Hire Public Insurance Adjusters

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.