As of January 1, 2026, Louisiana now follows a modified comparative fault law to determine who can recover money from a crash.
Prior to this, Louisiana followed pure comparative fault law, which allowed anyone injured in an accident to recover compensation for the harm caused based upon an allocation of fault between all parties. Under pure comparative fault, a person could be primarily responsible and still recover, though the award was reduced by the percentage of fault.
Starting this year, Louisiana moved to modified comparative fault law. Under the new law, a person must be 50% or less at fault to recover anything. If a person is 51% at fault or more, they recover nothing.
The main difference between the two laws is under pure comparative fault all parties are responsible for their share of negligence, while under modified comparative fault may escape responsibility for their own negligence if the injured person was slightly more responsible for the incident.
Modified comparative fault may sound fair, if you are more than half responsible for an accident you are not be able to recover any compensation. However, this rule makes it much easier for insurance companies to deny legitimate claims because they can argue an injured person was only slightly more responsible for the harm and thus reduce their responsibility to nothing. This may come into play in a variety of common situations: four way stop sign crashes, red light crashes, failure to yield crashes, and more.
Loyd J Bourgeois, an injury and accident lawyer in Luling, commented on the new law. He says, “This change likely leads to insurance companies denying more claims outright when fault is disputed in an effort to reduce or avoid financial responsibility altogether.”
Mr. Bourgeois is not only an attorney and business owner, but is also the father of multiple teen drivers, so he views this law in both a professional and personal way.
With this new law, any blame placed on you can be used by insurance companies to deny or delay payment. Even if you can prove you were 50% or less at fault, the process will likely take much longer.
“This shift is likely to result in more cases going into litigation rather than being resolved in claims,” Mr. Bourgeois says. “Litigation drives up costs for both insurance companies and those injured” according to Bourgeois.
More cases going into litigation also means those injured in an accident with disputed fault will have to wait much longer and incur higher expenses before reaching a resolution.
As Louisiana adjusts to the modified comparative fault standard, its long-term effects will become clearer through court decisions and insurance claim outcomes. Drivers involved in accidents may see changes in how fault is evaluated and how claims are handled, particularly in cases where responsibility is disputed. Legal professionals, insurers, and the courts will continue interpreting the new rule as it is applied across a wide range of crash scenarios in the years ahead.
