Bobby Jindal might have dropped out of the race for president, but he has not dropped completely out of the limelight.
As the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles and State Police continue to send letters demanding that motorists pay fines for past lapses in auto insurance, the state’s insurance commissioner, Jim Donelon pointed a finger straight at Jindal.
“These notices are an attempt by the Jindal administration to plug a hole in the state’s budget,” he said in a statement posted on the department’s website.
That hasn’t stopped more letters from going out, as another 700,000 letters were mailed late this month, on top of the original batch of more than a million.
The letters are definitely working, even if they almost uniformly make people angry: so far the state has collected at least $8 million, far eclipsing the cost.
The state reports that so far, around 39,000 people have paid fines, while another 17,000 were able to clear their accounts by convincing the authorities no money was owed, which leaves a lot of people still in limbo and in danger of having their accounts turned over to a state-owned collection agency.
Insurance agencies in the state report increasing numbers of calls, but no strong uptick in the purchase of insurance.
“Yes, we want all drivers to be insured because when more drivers are insured, auto insurance rates can go down. But the way that this has been handled is fundamentally unfair. For years the state has failed to collect fines. Now, years later, the average citizen likely does not have the documents to prove that they had insurance one way or the other. No one keeps proof of insurance from a decade ago,” Donelon said. “How can any reasonable person defend themselves from an alleged infraction 10 years ago? And why should any of us assume that the records are accurate and correct?” Donelon asked in his online satement.
