Louisiana Car Accident Settlement Calculator

Under Louisiana's pure comparative fault rules, motor vehicle accident compensation is proportional to the other party's fault. A driver who is 80% at fault still recovers 20% of their damages. Insurance adjusters in Louisiana focus heavily on fault percentages because every point directly affects the payout.

Louisiana Civil Code article 3493.1 gives 2 years to file a lawsuit over a car accident injury, counted from the day the injury or damage is sustained. Acts 2024, No. 423 made that period apply only to claims arising after July 1, 2024, so a claim arising on or before that date falls under the former 1-year period.

Drivers in Louisiana must carry at least 15/30/25 in liability coverage — that’s $15K bodily injury per person, $30K per accident, and $25K property damage. This is among the lowest in the country. In a serious collision, the at-fault driver’s policy may not come close to covering your medical bills and lost wages, making underinsured motorist coverage essential for Louisiana drivers.

Louisiana lets a vehicle owner recover diminished value, the resale value a properly repaired car loses because of its accident history, from the at-fault driver on top of the cost of repairs. Under your own collision coverage, the answer in Louisiana turns on the wording of your policy. Louisiana's leading decision on your own collision coverage, Campbell v. Markel American Insurance Co., turned on the exact wording of the policy's limit of liability and expressly left open how the commoner 'like kind and quality' wording would be treated. The diminished value guide in the related reading below carries the rule for every state and how to document the loss.