§969.26. Property insurance

A. An extender of credit may, in addition, request or require a consumer to insure the secured motor vehicle and its use and operation, and any additional collateral securing the transaction, and include the cost of the insurance as a separate charge in the consumer's contract. This insurance and the premiums or charges thereon shall bear a reasonable relationship to the amount, term, and conditions of credit, and to the existing hazards or risk of loss, damage, or destruction. This insurance and the premiums or charges thereon shall also bear a reasonable relationship to the value of the motor vehicle and other collateral insured or to be insured, when, in the event of loss, such insurance policy does not pay off the entire balance of the transaction.

B. When a consumer fails to maintain required property insurance or fails to provide the extender of credit with timely notice of the purchase or renewal of such insurance coverage, the extender of credit may, after notice to the consumer and expiration of a fifteen-day curative period from the mailing of said notice, purchase insurance on the customer's property, including insurance protecting only the creditor's interest in such property. Such insurance premiums may be added to the outstanding balance of the customer's contract and made subject to additional loan finance charges or credit service charges at the rate previously agreed to by the consumer.

C. Every seller or lender who obtains or provides insurance to a consumer to ensure a motor vehicle subject to a motor vehicle credit transaction shall inform the consumer in writing, at the time the seller or lender agrees to obtain or provide insurance, as to whether or not such insurance, by itself, satisfies the requirements of R.S. 32:851 et seq. When the insurance, by itself, does not satisfy the requirements of R.S. 32:851 et seq., the seller or lender shall advise the consumer that all motorists are required by law to be covered by an automobile liability policy with a legally prescribed liability limit which exceeds the liability limits of the policy provided, and further that failure to meet those limits will subject the consumer to penalties which may include the suspension or revocation of driving privileges.

D.(1) The seller shall and the lender may, in addition, offer the consumer the option of voluntarily purchasing gap coverage protecting the consumer from possible liability as a result of the consumer's property insurance being insufficient to fully pay and satisfy the then unpaid balance under the consumer's contract as a result of a total loss of vehicle. The cost of gap coverage may be financed under the transaction and made subject to loan finance charges or credit service charges, as applicable.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, for purposes of this Subsection, a federally insured depository institution at all times, including during a repossession, shall be considered a lender.

Acts 1999, No. 794, §1, eff. July 2, 1999; Acts 2001, No. 1211, §1; Acts 2001, No. 1213, §1; Acts 2003, No. 415, §1.