§1161.1. Workers' compensation claims office or licensed claims adjusters; waiver

            A. Any insurer, authorized or unauthorized, domestic, foreign, or alien, who issues a policy for workers' compensation in this state shall either establish and maintain a claims office within the state or retain a claims adjuster who possesses a Louisiana license.

            B. The claims office or the licensed claims adjuster shall maintain files on workers' compensation claims submitted to that insurer, and the personnel of that office or the licensed claims adjuster, if retained, shall be authorized by the insurer to issue checks and settle claims, and seek contraversion on behalf of the insurer concerning workers' compensation claims made to that office or to the licensed claims adjuster.

            C. The insurer, or if applicable the surplus line broker who accepted and placed the policy, shall notify the commissioner of insurance and the office of workers' compensation of the address of such claims office or the address of the licensed claims adjuster retained by it.

            D. Waiver requests from the provisions of this Section shall be submitted in writing by the insurer, or if applicable by the surplus line broker who placed the policy, to the commissioner of insurance and shall not be considered unless the insurer can demonstrate that it has exercised claims management and filing practices which evidence proper compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Proper compliance will be measured by the commissioner through continued monitoring of the timeliness of reporting by the insurer of written complaints regarding noncompliance with all aspects of applicable laws and regulations. No insurer will be approved for waiver from the provisions of this Section unless the insurer has filed timely the documentation required by the commissioner and the office of worker's compensation at least fifty percent of the time during the year preceding the waiver request, and has also made timely first payments to claimants in cases where benefits are not contraverted at least seventy-five percent of the time during the year preceding the waiver request. Waivers granted by the commissioner shall remain in effect until such time as the insurer's measured performance record falls below that described above. Each year after such waiver has been granted, on or about the anniversary date of such waiver, the commissioner shall evaluate the performance record of each such insurer to determine if the waiver shall be continued.

            E. Any insurer, authorized or unauthorized, domestic, foreign, or alien, who issues a policy for workers' compensation in this state shall be deemed to consent and agree, in the event of the filing of a Disputed Claim for Compensation in which liability for statutory penalties and attorney fees pursuant to R.S. 23:1201 is at issue, to make any relevant claims adjuster available for deposition via telephone or virtual technology such as Zoom, Skype, or other similar technology and is deemed to have consented and agreed to make the relevant adjuster available for in-person testimony, at the insurer's expense, if the Disputed Claim for Compensation goes to trial.

            Acts 1990, No. 885, §2; Acts 2021, No. 255, §2.