Could New Bill Lower Louisiana Car Insurance Rates For Women?
It has been alleged that in a lot of cases, women with the same driving record as a man, are forced to pay more for the same auto insurance coverage as the man.
Unless you are a brand new driver in Louisiana, it's nothing you probably didn't already know.
What you might not have known is that Alexandria Senator Jay Luneau has authored a bill that he says would eliminate that discrimination. Luneau contends that gender should not be used as a factor for determining auto rates.
In a story from the Louisiana Radio Network, Senator Luneau asks, "The real question I think you have to ask yourself today when you’re deciding how you’re going to vote on this piece of legislation is do you want to level the playing field? Do you want to be fair with women to make sure they aren’t charged more?"
It was announced the bill has just narrowly advanced from the Senate Insurance Committee by a vote of five to four and will advance to the Senate floor for what might be a big hill to climb.
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is obviously not a proponent of the proposed legislation,
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says insurance carriers are not discriminating against females. He says companies refer to it as predictive modeling that differentiates between young women and men, and older women and men.
“In my opinion, if we pass this bill, overall, all women drivers in Louisiana totally, will pay more than all male drivers totally in the state of Louisiana,” said Donelon.
Equally against the proposal, Senator Kirk Talbot, believes it would ultimately increase rates for male drivers and added, "I’m not going to vote for a bill that’s going to have women subsidize the bad driving habits of men, especially young men, and young women."