To Impute or Not to Impute: Independent Insurance Adjuster Liability in Louisiana

AuthorBraxton A. Duhon
PositionJ.D./D.C.L., 2021, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
Pages277-324
Louisiana Law Review Louisiana Law Review
Volume 81
Number 1
Fall 2020
Article 12
12-11-2020
To Impute or Not to Impute: Independent Insurance Adjuster To Impute or Not to Impute: Independent Insurance Adjuster
Liability in Louisiana Liability in Louisiana
Braxton A. Duhon
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev
Repository Citation Repository Citation
Braxton A. Duhon,
To Impute or Not to Impute: Independent Insurance Adjuster Liability in Louisiana
, 81
La. L. Rev. (2020)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol81/iss1/12
This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital
Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Louisiana Law Review by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital
Commons. For more information, please contact kreed25@lsu.edu.
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To Impute or Not to Impute: Independent Insurance
Adjuster Liability in Louisiana
Braxton A. Duhon*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: A Disastrous Situation............................................ 272
I. Duties, and Insurance Companies, and Independent
Adjusters, Oh My!........................................................................ 276
A. Duties in General ................................................................... 277
B. Duties Under Louisiana Revised
Statutes § 22:1892 and § 22:1973.......................................... 278
C. Independent Adjusters––Generally........................................ 280
1. Majority View on Independent Adjuster Duties ............. 280
2. Minority View................................................................. 283
3. Louisiana: No Contract, No Problem.............................. 284
II. Do Independent Adjusters Owe a Duty
to Insureds Under Louisiana Law?............................................... 285
A. Insurers’ Duties Under Louisiana Revised
Statutes §§ 22:1892, 22:1973 ................................................ 286
1. Non-Delegable Duties and Where to Find Them............ 287
2. Insurers’ Duties: Non-Delegable By Analogy ................ 289
B. Do Insurance Adjusters Generally Owe a
Duty to Insureds?................................................................... 291
1. “We Don’t Need No [Delegation]”:
Another Brick in the Wall............................................... 292
2. Exceptions to the General Rule––Situations
in Which Adjusters Assume a Duty ................................ 295
C. Contractual Duties and Relationships.................................... 299
III. Agency Law: Should Courts Impute Liability? ........................... 301
A. Independent Adjusters vs. Employee Adjusters .................... 301
B. Agency Law and Independent Contractors............................ 302
Copyright 2020, by BRAXTON A. DUHON.
* J.D./D.C.L., 2021, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University.
I would like to specially thank Michael deBarros for bringing my attention to this
topic and for his continued guidance throughout the writing process. This
Comment is dedicated to my parents, Richie and Allison Duhon, and my fiancée,
Halie Englade, for their endless love and support in all my endeavors.
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272 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 81
C. Independent Here, Independent There,
Independent Everywhere? ..................................................... 304
IV. Policy Implications and the Louisiana Duty-Risk Approach....... 306
A. Duty-Risk Approach.............................................................. 306
B. Application of Policy Factors from Majority
View to Louisiana Law.......................................................... 307
C. Bad Faith Without Bad Conduct............................................ 311
V. An equitable solution ................................................................... 312
Conclusion.................................................................................... 316
INTRODUCTION: A DISASTROUS SITUATION
Louisiana is a hotbed for insurance claims because of both its high
automobile-accident rate1,790 severe and fatal crashes in 20181––and
its high risk for property damage from natural disasters, such as hurricanes
and flooding.2 High rates of property and automobile damage lead to a
larger quantity of insurance claims, which in turn lead to more instances
of and claims against insurance companies for behavior that is knowing,
arbitrary, capricious, or lacking probable cause.3 Insurance companies
often rely on independent adjusters to promptly and properly investigate,
adjust, and settle insurance claims.4 Thus, the determination of whether
1. Louisiana SHSP Crash Dashboard, CTR. FOR ANALYTICS & RES. IN
TRANSP. SAFETY, http://datareports.lsu.edu/SHSPCrash.aspx (last visited June
16, 2020) (select “2018” from the year drop-down menu to view crash statistics
for 2018) [https://perma.cc/TD6L-H6TZ].
2. See Dean A. Sutherland, Insurance Bad FaithLaw After Hurricanes:
Duties Owed by Insurance Companies and Potential Penalties for Violation of
Those Duties, 54 LA. BAR JNL. 90, 90 (2006).
3. Insurance Handbook, Spotlight On: Catastrophes -insurance issues, INS.
INFO. INST., https://www.iii.org/publications/insurance-handbook/insurance-and-
disasters/spotlight-on-catastrophes-insurance-issues (last visited Sept. 26, 2019)
[https://perma.cc/4F8C-9NEE]. Bad faith claims against insurers are those claims
providing penalties for insurers investigating and paying insurance claims in such
a way that is arbitrary, capricious, or lacking probable cause. See LA. REV. STAT.
§§ 22:1973, 22:1892 (2019).
4. See generally La Louisiane Bakery Co. v. Lafayette Ins. Co., 61 So. 3d
17 (La. Ct. App. 5th Cir. 2011) (discussing an insurance company that hired an
independent adjuster to handle wind-damage claim after Hurricane Katrina);
Leslie Scism, Irma’s Riches: $30 ,000 for a Few Days of Work, WALL STREET J.

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