Like most states, Louisiana sets minimum requirements for car insurance that residents must purchase to register a car. Louisiana drivers must carry at least $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident in bodily injury liability coverage and $25,000 per accident in property damage liability coverage.1
You may need additional coverage in some situations, but it’s important to have at least state-minimum coverage, or you may face penalties. You can typically find the cheapest rates in Louisiana if you compare quotes and shop around. Here’s what you need to know about Louisiana car insurance coverage.
Louisiana state law requires all vehicle owners to purchase a policy with minimum liability limits of bodily injury and property damage liability coverage. Here’s what that means and what these coverages pay for.
Bodily injury liability insurance reimburses someone for injuries and medical expenses from an accident that you cause.
In Louisiana, you must purchase bodily injury liability coverage with policy limits of at least $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident. That means if you injure two people in one car accident, your insurer will cover their medical bills up to $30,000.
Anything beyond that limit is your responsibility. If you cause an accident that results in more than $30,000 in injuries, you’re liable for paying the remaining costs out of pocket.
Property damage liability coverage reimburses someone for any property you damage in an accident. This usually means the other parties’ vehicles, but it can include personal belongings inside a car, someone’s home, landscaping, buildings, and more.
Louisiana car insurance requirements state that you must purchase enough property damage coverage to reimburse someone for up to $25,000 if you damage their property with your car. For amounts more than that — such as if you damage someone’s new car worth $35,000 — you’re personally on the hook for the costs.
Louisiana’s “No-Pay, No-Play” law penalizes uninsured drivers by restricting their ability to file insurance claims if they sustain damages and injuries in an accident, even if they weren’t the ones at fault.
Uninsured drivers don’t receive the first $25,000 in property damage liability or $15,000 in bodily injury liability claims from the other driver.
The minimum liability coverage in Louisiana will protect you against financial losses up to a certain amount, but beyond that, you’re on the hook.
For this reason, you may want to purchase higher liability limits. Many financial experts recommend making sure you have at least enough coverage to match your financial assets since that’s the maximum amount of financial loss you might see. For example, if you have $100,000 in your financial accounts, $100,000 would be a good amount of minimum liability coverage to consider.
Louisiana auto insurance laws outline penalties you may face if you drive without proof of insurance. The following fines and penalties may apply:
Fine of $500 to $1,000
Vehicle impoundment
License plate cancellation
Vehicle registration revocation
Driver’s license suspension
Forfeit the first $15,000 to $25,000 in claims after a not-at-fault accident
If and when you’re eligible to have your license and registration reinstated, you may pay additional costs and fees. You may need to purchase a high-risk car insurance policy and ask your insurer to file a form SR-22 with the office of motor vehicles for three years.
Buying a policy with Louisiana’s minimum insurance requirements is the cheapest option, costing an average of $114 per month, according to Insurify data.
Here are the cheapest liability insurance companies in Louisiana for you to start your search.
Louisiana law doesn’t require full coverage, but your lender may require it if you finance or lease your car. A full-coverage policy typically includes two extra types of insurance designed to protect your vehicle: collision and comprehensive. The average full-coverage policy costs $204 per month in Louisiana.
Collision coverage pays for damage to your car if you hit another vehicle or a stationary object, like a light pole or fence. Comprehensive coverage pays for damages from non-collision sources, like theft, fires, floods, falling trees, and storm damage.
Here are the cheapest insurers in Louisiana for full-coverage auto policies.
While Louisiana law only requires bodily injury and property damage liability insurance, you may want more coverages. Consider the following endorsements you can add to your policy for more protection on the road:
Check out Insurify’s report on the average cost of car insurance, and learn the answers to questions about Louisiana’s coverage requirements below.
Yes. Louisiana requires all drivers to purchase a 15/30/25 car insurance policy. This translates to $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident for bodily injury liability coverage and $25,000 per accident for property damage liability coverage.
No. Louisiana doesn’t require full-coverage insurance, but your lender may require it if you financed or leased your car.
Yes. To register a car under your name in Louisiana, you must first purchase a car insurance policy with limits of at least 15/30/25.
If you already have car insurance, your current coverage may extend to your new car for 30 days to give you time to buy another policy for your new car, but it depends on your insurance company. You should call your insurer before buying a car to check its policy.3
In general, car insurance follows the car when you give permission for someone else to drive it. Your car insurance may also follow you in some cases, including if you’re renting a car while on vacation.
In Louisiana, insurance follows the car and not the driver. As long as you give explicit permission, anyone can drive your car even if they aren’t on your insurance. So if someone you gave permission to drive your car gets into an accident, your insurance would cover it.
120+ moreAt Insurify, our goal is to help customers compare insurance products and find the best policy for them. We strive to provide open, honest, and unbiased information about the insurance products and services we review. Our hard-working team of data analysts, insurance experts, insurance agents, editors and writers, has put in thousands of hours of research to create the content found on our site.
We do receive compensation when a sale or referral occurs from many of the insurance providers and marketing partners on our site. That may impact which products we display and where they appear on our site. But it does not influence our meticulously researched editorial content, what we write about, or any reviews or recommendations we may make. We do not guarantee favorable reviews or any coverage at all in exchange for compensation.
)
)
)