LA. LIABILITY LIMIT ENDED

Late last month, an obscure provision allowing dozens of Louisiana insurance companies to limit their liability in homeowners’ policies was outlawed, according to a report by The Baton Rouge Advocate. The story said state insurance regulators estimated about 50 of the state’s 170 property and casualty insurance firms included the little-known “vicarious parental liability” clause, which capped homeowners’ benefits to between $3,000 and $10,000 from the acts of their minor children, regardless of where the damage occurred.

In March, the department held a public hearing on the issue, during which some industry representatives urged regulators to keep the provision, claiming that ending it might lead to rate increases and that insurance companies’ competitiveness would be damaged. Regulators rejected those arguments.