As seen at HurricaneLawBlog:
Act 739, recently passed by the Louisiana Legislature, extended the period within which Hurricane Katrina insurance claims must be filed by one year — until August 30, 2007. The legislation directed the Louisiana Attorney General to file suit for declaratory judgment to validate the constitutionality of the statute. The Attorney General filed suit against all insurers active in the state at the time of the hurricane,[.]
True, the lawsuit is more technical in nature, to more quickly resolve any questions regarding the constitutionality of the new law, but it’s still impressive to say “The AG filed suit against all insurers..”
I can empathize with both sides in this matter. On the one hand, implicitly built into the rates and underwriting guidelines are certain assumptions about the contract provisions and enforceability of those provisions. If the terms of the insurance contract specified that claims be reported within a year, well, it’s arguably not fair to change the rules of the game after the fact.
On the other hand, given the scope of the destruction and everything that survivors of Katrina are having to face, the idea that it’s good public policy to make an exception in the wake of this storm. In fact, I thought I had heard that even the most tight-fisted insurers were agreeing in principle to the extension, but felt they couldn’t volunteer the relaxed rules because of the potential for precedent being set for future, smaller events.