Louisiana car accident settlement calculator

Louisiana filing deadlines

CHANGED 2024: art. 3493.1 added by Acts 2024, No. 423, eff. Applies to personal injury and property damage (both delictual). Wrongful death (amended by Acts 2025, Nos. 176 and 488): 'prescribes one year from the death of the deceased or two years from the day that injury or damage is sustained, whichever is longer'; wrongful death from medical malpractice stays 1 year from death. Value 2 assumes death on the day of the crash. No general notice-of-claim statute for government defendants was checked.

If you were partly at fault

Louisiana follows modified comparative negligence, 51% bar. Your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault, and you recover nothing if you were more at fault than the other side (51% or more). At exactly 50% you still recover half.

• With $100,000 in damages and 30% of the fault, you would recover $70,000.
• With 55% of the fault, you would recover $0, because the rule bars your claim.

Changed in 2026: Louisiana moved from pure comparative fault to a modified 51% bar effective January 1, 2026 (Act 15 sec. 2: 'This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2026'). Plaintiff can recover at 50% fault. The act has no express transition clause in the text reviewed; claims arising before 2026 are generally treated under the prior pure comparative rule. Fault of an intentional tortfeasor does not reduce recovery (art. 2323(C)).

Source: La. Civ. Code art. 2323(A)(2), as amended by Acts 2025, No. 15 (HB 431), eff. Jan. 1, 2026. Compare all states in the comparative negligence table.

At-fault (tort) state

In Louisiana the driver who caused the crash is responsible for the damage, so you claim against their liability insurance or sue them. Your own medical payments or health coverage can pay bills while the claim is pending.

Louisiana is a tort (at-fault) state with no PIP requirement.

Minimum car insurance in Louisiana

$15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident for injuries, $25,000 for property damage. Uninsured motorist coverage is optional or can be rejected in writing.

Many drivers carry only the minimum, so the bodily injury limit is often the most the at-fault driver's insurer will pay one person. UM (R.S. 22:1295) is included automatically but 'is not applicable when any insured named in the policy either rejects coverage, selects lower limits, or selects economic-only coverage' on the commissioner's form.

Damage caps

Louisiana does not cap pain and suffering in ordinary car accident cases. Punitive damages: Punitive (exemplary) damages only where a statute allows them, e.g. La. C.C. art. 2315.4 for injuries caused by an intoxicated driver; no dollar cap.

Dog bite law

Mixed rule. Labeled strict by statute but limited: plaintiff must show the owner could have prevented the harm (courts require that the dog posed an unreasonable risk of harm, Pepper v. Triplet) and that the victim did not provoke the dog. Applies to injuries generally, not only bites. Other animals: negligence standard (art. 2321(A)).

Source: La. Civ. Code art. 2321(B). Estimate a claim with the dog bite calculator.