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Insurance audit dispute resolved
BATON ROUGE -- A long-running feud over the costs of audits of the Department of Insurance has been resolved with Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot writing off more than $232,600 in charges to Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon.
Donelon and Theriot signed a letter of agreement Wednesday in which the commissioner agrees to pay $441,657 for legal fees and for financial audits of the department for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 fiscal years.
Theriot said that during weeks of negotiations with Donelon over the original $674,000 bill, he dropped demands for payment for both a compliance and performance audit.
Theriot sent Donelon the original bill after the auditor won a court suit over access to Donelon's records.
Theriot claimed he needed the records to complete audits of the department but Donelon withheld them, saying his office had a duty to protect the records because they were confidential. Donelon said making them available to auditors could violate state or federal privacy laws.
Theriot said the bill was high because of the legal fees and the prolonged delays his auditors en))countered in trying to do their work without the records.
Nineteenth Judicial District Court Judge Todd Hernandez two months ago ruled for Theriot; Donelon has appealed the ruling to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge but has agreed to turn over the records in the meantime.
Theriot's deductions included the cost of performance audits of the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run property insurer of last resort, and a compliance audit of the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana, the agency that managed Citizens until two years ago. Both agencies had ties to the insurance department.
"I am satisfied," said Theriot, who is leaving the auditor's office Nov. 20. "I got compensated for my legal fees and the extra audit hours."
Shirley Bowler, a deputy insurance commissioner who oversees the department's finances, said the agency will pay $110,000 to Theriot's office by the end of 2009 and the rest -- roughly $331,000 -- by June 30.
. . . . . . .
Ed Anderson can be reached at eanderson@timespicayune.com or 225.342.5810.
