Short answer: Start with the accident or injury date, but do not stop there. The governing rule may turn on when the tort arose, a commercial policy was issued or renewed, suit was filed, death occurred, or the insurer acted. An effective date begins the analysis but does not always end it.
Louisiana Injury-Law Changes at a Glance
| Change | Effective date | Date or event to check | General transition point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Act 423: two-year tort prescription | July 1, 2024 | Date the delictual action arose | Expressly prospective for actions arising after the effective date. |
| Act 275: Direct Action limits | August 1, 2024 | Date suit or required proceeding was filed, plus any exception | Current state appellate authority generally applies the new procedure when first invoked on or after the effective date, even for an older accident. |
| Act 770: commercial UM opt-in | August 1, 2024 | Policy issuance, renewal, selection form, premium, and crash date | Commercial UM is no longer presumed from liability limits. The full policy history matters. |
| Act 16: $100,000 No Pay, No Play limit | August 1, 2025 | Crash date and insurance status then | The crash date is generally the key transition event. |
| Act 176: survival and wrongful-death periods | August 1, 2025 | Injury date, death date, and claim type | Current law uses the longer of one year from death or two years from injury. Special malpractice rules apply. |
| Act 15: 51% comparative-fault bar | January 1, 2026 | Date the injury-producing incident occurred | Incidents before the effective date remain under the former pure comparative-fault rule; later filing does not move an old accident into the new rule. |
| Act 466: recoverable medical expenses | January 1, 2026 | Accident or cause-of-action date and filing date | The act says prospective only and separately excludes causes filed before the effective date, creating a transition question for older injuries first sued on later. |
| Act 932: bodily-injury bad-faith limits | August 1, 2026 | Claim, proof, offer, response period, and insurer conduct | Earlier conduct or an accrued claim may require an article 6 analysis. |
Why the Effective Date Does Not Always Answer the Question
Louisiana Civil Code article 6 supplies the basic framework. If the legislature has not stated otherwise, substantive laws apply prospectively. Procedural and interpretative laws can apply both prospectively and retroactively unless the legislature says otherwise.
A rule that creates or changes rights and duties is generally substantive. A rule addressing how a right is enforced may be procedural. Courts also ask whether applying a new statute would disturb a vested right. The act text, any applicability clause, and constitutional limits therefore matter.
2024 Changes: Prescription, Direct Action, and Commercial UM
Act 423: the two-year general tort period
Act 423 of 2024 created a two-year prescriptive period for delictual actions and expressly made the change prospective for actions arising after July 1, 2024. The rule is now found in Civil Code article 3493.1.
An ordinary injury on June 30, 2024 remains under the former one-year framework, while one on July 1 generally begins under the two-year rule. Discovery rules, interruption, suspension, and special claim types can change the deadline. See our Louisiana prescription guide.
Act 275: who may name the liability insurer
Act 275 of 2024 narrowed routine direct actions against liability insurers. Under R.S. 22:1269, the injured person ordinarily sues the insured. Listed exceptions include bankruptcy or insolvency, unsuccessful service or refusal to defend, certain intra-family claims, UM claims, a deceased insured, and specified coverage disputes. Otherwise, an insurer may be joined at settlement or judgment for enforcement, subject to the statute.
Act 275 did not state whether its limits apply retroactively, and early decisions divided. By September 2026, Louisiana appellate authority generally treats the direct-action mechanism as procedural. In Morgan v. Southern Hospitality Services and Davis v. Old American Indemnity Company, the Second Circuit applied the amended procedure to suits filed after August 1, 2024 even though the underlying events occurred earlier. Proceedings instituted before the effective date can be different, including some medical-review-panel and placeholder-insurer situations. Do not decide this issue from the accident date alone.
Act 770: commercial policies require a UM selection
Under R.S. 22:1295(7), added by Act 770, a commercial auto insured has the option to select uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. If no UM selection was made and no UM premium was paid, the statute presumes no UM coverage was selected. The Louisiana Department of Insurance commercial UMBI form was issued on August 1, 2024.
The accident date matters, but so do policy issuance, renewals, endorsements, selection forms, and premiums. A $1 million commercial liability limit does not establish $1 million in UM coverage.
2025 Changes: Uninsured Drivers and Death Claims
Act 16: the $100,000 No Pay, No Play rule
Effective August 1, 2025, R.S. 32:866 generally prevents an uninsured owner or operator from recovering the first $100,000 of bodily-injury damages and the first $100,000 of property damages arising from a motor-vehicle accident. Statutory exceptions include specified intoxicated, intentional, hit-and-run, and felony conduct, and the statute treats some passengers and parked vehicles differently.
For transition purposes, look first to the crash date and whether compulsory insurance was in force then. Our Louisiana No Pay, No Play guide explains the current limit and exceptions.
Act 176: survival and wrongful-death timing
Effective August 1, 2025, Act 176 amended Civil Code article 2315.1 and article 2315.2. The current general rule uses the longer of one year from death or two years from the day injury or damage was sustained. Medical-malpractice claims have special provisions.
This is not simply “two years from death.” Both dates must be calculated, and older injuries or deaths can raise transition questions. Our wrongful-death deadline guide gives worked examples.
2026 Changes: Fault, Medical Bills, and Insurer Conduct
Act 15: the 51% comparative-fault bar
Act 15 of 2025 became effective January 1, 2026. Under current Civil Code article 2323, a person assigned 51% or more of the fault cannot recover damages. At 50% or less, damages are reduced in proportion to fault.
The incident date controls the substantive fault rule. A December 2025 accident does not acquire the 51% bar merely because suit was filed in 2026. A January 2026 incident generally does. See our detailed explanation of Louisiana’s modified comparative-fault rule.
Act 466: past medical expenses and the transition tension
Act 466 of 2025 amended R.S. 9:2800.27. It generally limits qualifying contracted-provider bills to amounts actually paid by health insurance or Medicare plus cost sharing, removes the former 40% procurement addition, and provides for evidence of billed and paid amounts. Other payment sources and claim types receive separate treatment.
The transition language deserves caution. Section 2 says the act has prospective application only and also says it does not apply to causes of action filed before January 1, 2026. A suit filed in 2025 is expressly excluded. For an accident before 2026 first sued on after January 1, the “prospective only” clause and the filing exclusion can support competing timing arguments. Do not assume filing date alone supplies the answer.
Act 932: new limits involving bodily-injury bad-faith claims
Act 932 of 2026, effective August 1, 2026, amended R.S. 22:1892. For a personal- or bodily-injury claim, amended Subsection I does not create a cause of action by the insured or the insured’s assignee when there is a good-faith dispute over liability, a good-faith dispute over medical causation, or no within-limits offer has been presented by or for a third-party claimant with at least 30 days allowed for the insurer to respond. It also states that Subsection I does not create a separate claim against an insurer representative.
The act has no special applicability clause. Bad-faith analysis can turn on when the insurer received satisfactory proof of loss, when an offer was made, when a response period expired, and when the alleged breach occurred. A claim involving conduct on both sides of August 1, 2026 needs a specific article 6 and vested-right analysis.
A Practical Sequence for Identifying the Governing Law
- Write down the incident and injury dates. These usually anchor prescription, No Pay, No Play, and comparative fault.
- Collect the complete policy history. For commercial UM, obtain the policy, applications, renewals, selection forms, endorsements, and premium records.
- Identify every filing date. Record the date suit was filed, each defendant was added, and any mandatory administrative or medical-review proceeding began.
- For a death claim, calendar both dates. Compare the injury date and death date and identify whether medical malpractice is alleged.
- Build an insurer-conduct timeline. Include proof of loss, demands, within-limits offers, reservations of rights, denials, and response dates.
- Preserve the older rule. Save the act version and policy documents in force on each potentially controlling date. Current code text alone may hide the transition issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I file in 2026, do all 2026 laws apply?
No. A 2025 accident can remain governed by the former comparative-fault rule, even if suit is timely filed in 2026. Other changes, such as Direct Action procedure or Act 466, may require a separate filing-date analysis.
Does Louisiana now give everyone two years to sue?
No. The general tort period is two years for actions arising after June 30, 2024, but special deadlines exist for medical malpractice, government and federal claims, UM claims, death claims, and other categories. Earlier torts generally remain under the prior framework.
Which date matters most in a transition case?
There is no universal answer. Begin with the accident date, then check the policy date, filing and joinder dates, death date, and insurer-conduct dates against the exact act text.
Official Sources
- Louisiana Civil Code article 6
- Act 423 of 2024
- Act 275 of 2024
- Act 770 of 2024
- Act 16 of 2025
- Act 176 of 2025 enrolled text
- Act 15 of 2025
- Act 466 of 2025
- Act 932 of 2026
Get a Date-Specific Review of Your Louisiana Claim
One wrong timing assumption can change the deadline, available insurance, recoverable damages, or even whether a claim survives. Babcock Injury Lawyers can map the controlling dates, preserve the correct statutory versions, and review the policy and claim file. Call 225-500-5000 in Baton Rouge or 318-777-5000 in North Louisiana for a free consultation.
Editorial & Legal Accuracy Notice (Louisiana)
Sources checked: September 24, 2026.
Prepared by: Babcock Injury Lawyers.
This guide provides general Louisiana-law information, not advice for a particular claim. Transition cases can depend on policy, filing, proof, offer, and insurer-conduct dates that do not appear in a crash report.