34. The trial court committed error when it applied Louisiana law and awarded damages and penalties to Lincoln under the Louisiana Insurance Code. However, if Louisiana law applies, Lincoln is still barred from recovery. Jurisprudence in Louisiana is clear that an assignment contract must specifically provide for the assignment of statutory claims, otherwise the remedy for the assignee is based solely on the contract it was assigned. Lincoln does not have standing to assert claims against GPM for statutory violations because the Beneficiaries only assigned to the funeral home the funeral costs up to $11,047.30. Neither the Irrevocable Assignments nor the Irrevocable Reassignments assign statutory claims. Further, Lincoln has no standing to assert statutory violations under Louisiana’s bad faith statutes as an “assignee” and is precluded from recovery because Lincoln is not a “person insured by the contract.”
