State guide · Southeast
Louisiana subrogation law guide
For accidents on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant 51% or more at fault recovers nothing, and lesser fault reduces damages proportionally. Claims arising before that date stay under Louisiana's former pure comparative fault rule.
Louisiana at a glanceLA
- Property damage
- 2 years
- Bodily injury
- 2 years
- Fault rule
- Modified, 51% bar
- Gov. notice
- None
Overview
Louisiana changed both its clock and its fault rule within two years, so the accident date now drives almost every recovery decision. Act 423 of 2024 replaced the 1-year delictual prescription with a 2-year period (La. Civ. Code art. 3493.11) for claims arising after July 1, 2024, with immovable property claims running from the owner's knowledge of the damage (art. 3493.12). Act 15 of 2025 then replaced pure comparative fault with a 51% bar for accidents on or after January 1, 2026. A single closed-claim sweep can therefore hold files under three regimes: 1-year prescription with pure comparative fault, 2-year prescription with pure comparative fault, and 2-year prescription with the 51% bar. Act 16 of 2025 raised the No Pay, No Play bar so that an owner or operator without compulsory liability coverage cannot recover the first $100,000 of bodily injury or property damage. Liability among tortfeasors is joint and divisible rather than solidary, so each pays only its share. The full compensation rule gives a partly paid insured priority over the subrogated insurer. Claims against public entities need no pre-suit notice, but service must be requested within 90 days of filing.
Quick reference with citations
- Property damage SOL
- 2 years
- La. Civ. Code art. 3493.11 (delictual actions arising after July 1, 2024); damage to immovable property runs 2 years from the owner's actual or constructive knowledge (art. 3493.12). Claims arising before July 1, 2024 keep the former 1-year period.
- Bodily injury SOL
- 2 years
- La. Civ. Code art. 3493.11 (2024 La. Acts No. 423); 1 year for claims arising before July 1, 2024
- Product liability
- 2 years under art. 3493.11 for Louisiana Products Liability Act claims arising after July 1, 2024 (1 year for earlier claims); no product statute of repose. Damage to the product itself is pursued in redhibition rather than under the LPLA (La. R.S. 9:2800.53).
- Written contract
- 10 years
- Contract and indemnity recoveries
- Comparative fault rule
- Modified, 51% bar
- La. Civ. Code art. 2323, as amended by 2025 La. Acts No. 15 (H.B. 431), effective January 1, 2026; prior pure comparative fault applies to earlier accidents
- Government notice of claim
- No general statutory pre-suit notice
- No general pre-suit notice of claim is required against the State or political subdivisions. The traps sit elsewhere: service of citation must be requested within 90 days of filing suit against a public entity or the action is dismissed (La. R.S. 13:5107(D)); liability for a defective public thing requires actual or constructive notice of the defect (La. R.S. 9:2800); and general damages are capped at $500,000 (La. R.S. 13:5106).
Fault rule in practice
How Louisiana's rule changes a $50,000 recovery.
For accidents on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant 51% or more at fault recovers nothing, and lesser fault reduces damages proportionally. Claims arising before that date stay under Louisiana's former pure comparative fault rule.
Authority: La. Civ. Code art. 2323, as amended by 2025 La. Acts No. 15 (H.B. 431), effective January 1, 2026; prior pure comparative fault applies to earlier accidents
| Insured's share of fault | Recoverable in LA | Under pure comparative |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| 20% | $40,000 | $40,000 |
| 50% | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| 60% | Barred | $20,000 |
Doctrines that move the number
Louisiana doctrine checklist.
Made-whole doctrine
Louisiana calls the made-whole doctrine the full compensation rule: an insured who has been only partly compensated has priority over the subrogated insurer for the balance of its loss (Southern Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co. v. Sonnier, 406 So.2d 178 (La. 1981); La. Civ. Code art. 1826). Some appellate decisions treat it as a gap filler that clear policy language can displace, but Sonnier applied it despite a subrogation clause.
Economic loss doctrine
Louisiana generally denies recovery of purely economic loss caused by negligent damage to another's property (PPG Industries, Inc. v. Bean Dredging Corp., 447 So.2d 1058 (La. 1984)). Under the Louisiana Products Liability Act, damage to the product itself and economic loss from the defect belong in redhibition, while damage to other property is recoverable under the LPLA.
Joint and several liability
Since 1996, La. Civ. Code art. 2324(B) makes joint tortfeasors liable only for their own degree of fault; solidary liability survives only for those who conspire to commit an intentional or willful act. Fault is allocated to all persons who contributed, including nonparties, under art. 2323.
Anti-subrogation and waiver
In commercial settings without unequal bargaining power, a lease requiring the lessor to insure the premises shifts the risk of loss to the lessor's insurer and bars subrogation against the tenant (Home Ins. Co. v. National Tea Co., 588 So.2d 361 (La. 1991)). Construction contract waivers of subrogation also control within their terms.
Practice notes
Working Louisiana subrogation files.
- 1
Sort every Louisiana file by accident date before scoring it. Losses before July 1, 2024 carried the old 1-year prescription and have almost all prescribed. Losses from July 1, 2024 through December 31, 2025 get 2 years and pure comparative fault. Losses on or after January 1, 2026 get 2 years and the 51% bar. A file tagged with the wrong regime will be mispriced, either written off while alive or pursued after it is barred.
- 2
Fault math example: a fictional Baton Rouge insured's $30,000 collision claim arises from a merge crash in which the insured is found 55% at fault. If the crash happened in December 2025, pure comparative fault still allows $13,500 (45% of $30,000). The same crash in February 2026 recovers nothing under amended art. 2323. Demand strategy and settlement authority should reflect which side of that line the accident falls on.
- 3
The public entity trap is procedural. There is no notice of claim, but La. R.S. 13:5107(D) requires service on the State, a parish or a city to be requested within 90 days of filing, or the suit is dismissed, and prescription may have run by then. Liability for a road or drainage defect also requires proof of actual or constructive notice under La. R.S. 9:2800, so preserve prior complaints, work orders and inspection records.
- 4
Check the insured's compulsory liability coverage on every auto subrogation file. Under La. R.S. 32:866 as amended by Act 16 of 2025, an owner or operator without compulsory liability security cannot recover the first $100,000 of property damage, and a carrier subrogated to that owner's claim stands in the same position. Collision coverage on a vehicle without liability security can therefore leave little or nothing to recover from the at-fault driver.
- 5
Ishqkala assigns each Louisiana file a regime tag from the date of loss (pre-July 2024, interim and post-2026), sets the prescription alert at 365 or 730 days accordingly, and applies the 51% bar only to accidents on or after January 1, 2026. Immovable property files use the owner's knowledge date from diary notes when it is later than the loss date, with a flag for recovery counsel review.
Key cases
Southern Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co. v. Sonnier
406 So.2d 178 (La. 1981)
Held that a subrogated insurer whose insured was not fully compensated is only partially subrogated, and the insured has priority in collecting the balance; the source of Louisiana's full compensation rule.
Home Ins. Co. v. National Tea Co.
588 So.2d 361 (La. 1991)
Held that a commercial lease obligating the lessor to insure the premises shifted the risk of fire loss to the lessor's insurer, barring its subrogation claim against the tenant.
Watson v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Ins. Co.
469 So.2d 967 (La. 1985)
Set the factors Louisiana fact-finders use to allocate percentages of fault under art. 2323, including the nature of each party's conduct and its causal relationship to the damage.
Inter-company arbitration
Louisiana auto physical damage disputes between signatory carriers go to Arbitration Forums, Inc., compulsory up to $100,000 in total company-paid damages. Frame liability arguments under the fault rule in effect on the accident date: pure comparative fault before January 1, 2026 and the 51% bar after. Leave margin before prescription: AF rules let a responding company raise policy limits or denial of coverage up to 60 days after the decision and at least 60 days before the limitation period expires, which can force a late pivot to suit.
How Ishqkala applies this guide
LA rules, built into every score.
- Opportunities with a Louisiana loss state are calendared against the 2 years property damage period or the 2 years bodily injury period, whichever controls the claim type.
- The insured's estimated fault share is applied under modified, 51% bar before recoverable dollars are scored.
- Public-entity claims are flagged for counsel review because notice and immunity rules vary by entity.
- Alerts fire at 180, 90, 45 and 15 days before the controlling deadline.
Other modified, 51% bar jurisdictions
FAQ
Louisiana subrogation FAQ
2 years (La. Civ. Code art. 3493.11 (delictual actions arising after July 1, 2024); damage to immovable property runs 2 years from the owner's actual or constructive knowledge (art. 3493.12). Claims arising before July 1, 2024 keep the former 1-year period.). A subrogating carrier generally takes the insured's claim subject to the same limitation period, usually measured from the date of loss.
Modified, 51% bar (La. Civ. Code art. 2323, as amended by 2025 La. Acts No. 15 (H.B. 431), effective January 1, 2026; prior pure comparative fault applies to earlier accidents). For accidents on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant 51% or more at fault recovers nothing, and lesser fault reduces damages proportionally. Claims arising before that date stay under Louisiana's former pure comparative fault rule.
No general pre-suit notice of claim is required against the State or political subdivisions. The traps sit elsewhere: service of citation must be requested within 90 days of filing suit against a public entity or the action is dismissed (La. R.S. 13:5107(D)); liability for a defective public thing requires actual or constructive notice of the defect (La. R.S. 9:2800); and general damages are capped at $500,000 (La. R.S. 13:5106).
Louisiana calls the made-whole doctrine the full compensation rule: an insured who has been only partly compensated has priority over the subrogated insurer for the balance of its loss (Southern Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co. v. Sonnier, 406 So.2d 178 (La. 1981); La. Civ. Code art. 1826). Some appellate decisions treat it as a gap filler that clear policy language can displace, but Sonnier applied it despite a subrogation clause.
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