La Auto Insurance

Louisiana may be known – unofficially – as the Bayou State, but there is nothing relaxed and laid-back when it comes to drivers who fail to prove adequate LA auto insurance coverage during a traffic stop. Like other jurisdictions in the United States, car insurance within LA must meet a number of minimum requirements.

The basic amount of bodily injury liability coverage is $15,000 per person or $30,000 per accident. Companies offering vehicle policies in the state must also provide minimum property damage liability coverage of $25,000. LA auto insurance insiders refer to these minimum requirements as the “15/30/25” coverage formula.

Novice drivers are sometimes surprised to learn that Louisiana favors the tort system in its automotive adjudication. This setup requires a finding of fault and apportioning of liability in the case of a crash. Only then can an auto accident claim get settled in LA. Auto insurance companies pay out when the driver whom they insure is found to have been at fault in the car crash and thus the resulting vehicle damage and personal injury is his responsibility.

Seasoned motorists frequently choose to buy optional LA auto insurance policies to step in and cover losses, especially if the at-fault driver turns out to not have any insurance. An example of these policies includes the ‘uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage.’ It guarantees that personal injury claims are paid when they are the result of a vehicular crash but the guilty party failed to obtain an insurance policy prior to getting behind the wheel.

Another optional policy the buyer of LA auto insurance products should consider is the ‘under-insured driver coverage.’ Once again, this is an additional policy that is not mandatory but can greatly protect the driver of a newer or more expensive vehicle. Consider a car accident involving an old Toyota Tercel and a brand-new BMW. If the Toyota driver is at fault but only carries the most basic coverage, it is unlikely that her insurance company’s payment covers all of the repairs on the BMW. Providing gap coverage oneself is an excellent method for protecting the rather sizable investment in the vehicle.

LA drivers may be surprised to learn that insuring a car in this state is more expensive than the national average. While the national average for auto insurance premiums is $1,576, in Louisiana it is $2,104. That being said, there is somewhat of a disparity with respect to in-state insurance rates, which makes shopping around for the most competitively priced product a must for the savvy consumer.