NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana senator is calling attention to what he believes could be an example of wasteful insurance spending — and he says it might be costing you.

During a recent bill hearing, Senator Jay Luneau confronted Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple with claims that a private jet, owned by a local auto insurance company, is being used to shuttle an executive across Lake Pontchartrain roughly every 2.2 days.

“A plane that’s owned by an insurance company here in Louisiana, they fly presumably their chief executive officer who happens to live in that area over to his office, every 2.2 days according to these logs right here,” Luneau said during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

While he stopped short of naming the company, Luneau pointed to public flight records that show the jet making repeated trips between Hammond and New Orleans.  He said if those trips are being written off as business expenses, it could be a factor driving up rates for Louisiana drivers.

“Jet airplanes are very expensive to operate, and that’s not a long distance to drive,” Luneau said. “I couldn’t understand why they were operating that plane in that manner.”

Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple responded by acknowledging that expenses like travel fall within legal limits when it comes to investment income and spending practices.

“There are a lot of companies that have all types of expenses like that,” Temple said. “Investment income is allowed and legal.”

Senator Luneau said he raised the issue to encourage broader reforms aimed at regulating how insurers set their rates.

“There’s nothing wrong with making money,” he said. “But when insurance rates have gone up so much and they’re so difficult for people to contend with in the state of Louisiana, we have to look at everything.”

Luneau says he’s giving the company a chance to come forward voluntarily. If they don’t, he says he’s open to naming them.

The Judiciary Committee hearing was held as lawmakers debated a bill related to the state’s recovery limitations for damages in cases where a driver involved in an accident is uninsured.

Legislation aimed at expanding the Insurance Commissioner’s authority is expected to be debated later this session.

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