Is Louisiana an At-Fault or No-Fault State?
No — Louisiana is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state.
- Fault system
- At-fault (tort)
The driver responsible for the crash, and that driver's insurer, pays. Louisiana has no no-fault scheme and requires no personal injury protection.
- Comparative negligence rule
- Modified comparative — 51% bar
A claimant found 51% or more at fault recovers nothing; below that, damages are cut by the claimant's own share (La. Civ. Code art. 2323). Louisiana was a pure comparative fault state until Act 15 of 2025 took effect on January 1, 2026, so guides that still describe recovery at any percentage of fault are out of date.
How Louisiana compares with every other state
What the fault rule decides
In an at-fault state the driver who caused the crash — through their liability insurer — pays for the harm. That is the arrangement in 38 of the 51 jurisdictions on this site, so it is the one most US advice assumes. The practical consequence is that your recovery depends on two things you do not control: how much liability cover the other driver bought, and what share of the blame you are assigned.
Modified comparative fault turns the case into a percentage. On a hypothetical $100,000 of damages — arithmetic, not a figure from Louisiana law — being 20% to blame leaves you $80,000, and being 40% to blame leaves you $60,000. Cross the line at 51% and the award is not reduced, it is gone. 24 of the 50 jurisdictions on this site draw the line in the same place, and the whole dispute after a serious crash tends to be about which side of it you land on.
Every statute cited for Louisiana
What changed
January 1, 2026
Pure comparative fault replaced by a 51% bar
Act 15 of 2025 (HB 431) rewrote La. Civ. Code art. 2323. A claimant whose share of the negligence is 51% or more now recovers nothing; below that, damages are still reduced in proportion to that share. Louisiana had been one of the few pure comparative fault states, where a claimant 90% at fault could still collect 10% of the damages.
Louisiana State Legislature — La. Civ. Code art. 2323July 1, 2024
Deadline to sue over a crash doubled from one year to two
Act 423 of 2024 (HB 315) repealed La. Civ. Code arts. 3492 and 3493 and enacted art. 3493.1, which subjects delictual actions to a two-year liberative prescription running from the day the injury or damage is sustained. Louisiana's one-year deadline had been the shortest in the country. The two-year period applies to causes of action arising on or after July 1, 2024.
Louisiana State Legislature — La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1January 1, 2021
Civil Justice Reform Act of 2020 cut the jury trial threshold from $50,000 to $10,000
Act 37 of the 2020 First Extraordinary Session (HB 57) amended La. C.C.P. art. 1732 so that a jury trial is available once an individual petitioner's cause of action exceeds $10,000, down from $50,000. The same Act limited recovery of past medical expenses to what a health insurer or Medicare actually paid rather than the billed amount, and barred telling the jury that liability insurance exists except in defined situations.
Louisiana State Legislature — La. C.C.P. art. 1732
Why the rule looks like this
- What Changed in 2026Liability minimums doubled in Hawaii, two states dropped pure comparative fault, New Hampshire stopped inspecting cars, and three crash reporting thresholds moved — a dated account of the 2026 changes, and the ones already signed for 2027 and beyond.
- The One Percentage Point That Decides Your ClaimAcross the states covered on this site there are four different rules for what your own share of the blame does to your claim — and in North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia, being 1% at fault ends it entirely.
- No-Fault Does Not Mean Nobody Is at FaultNo-fault restricts the right to sue rather than removing it. Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York run it, New Jersey and Pennsylvania let you choose, and Michigan lets every driver pick one of six PIP ceilings — which changes who pays after a crash.
More on Louisiana
Checked against the primary sources above on September 27, 2026. If a figure here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it — what we have corrected so far is public.