NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – New laws related to auto insurance and auto accident litigation went into effect in Louisiana when 2026 arrived.

RELATED: New Louisiana insurance laws coming with the New Year

State lawmakers focused much of their 2025 legislative session on measures they hope will drive down auto insurance premiums. According to Bankrate, the average annual cost for full-coverage car insurance in Louisiana is more than $4,100.

“Some are good for insurance. Some are better for the insurance companies. At the end of the day, whatever we can do to keep rates fair and claims fair is the best thing that can happen,” said Stephen Lovecchio, a TWFG Insurance branch owner.

One of the laws that took effect on New Year’s Day is Act 15. It states that if an injured person — or a person killed in an accident — is found to be 51% at fault or negligent, they or their family are not entitled to recover damages.

However, if an injured person’s negligence is less than 51%, the amount of damages he or she can recover will be reduced in proportion to their degree of fault.

“It’s common-sense legislation. I think overall it should drop totals 1% or 2%, maybe 3%. It’s not going to really change how many claims are happening, but it will stop some really, really big claims from being paid out, so overall it’s a good rule,” Lovecchio said.

READ: Enforcement begins for Louisiana hands-free driving law

Dan Burghardt, who owns an insurance agency bearing his name, said Act 15 is significant.

“The biggest one was the 51% rule, where if you’re 51% at fault, you have no recourse as that individual to go after or sue for damages that you think you got,” Burghardt said.

With truckers in mind, state lawmakers passed another new law that also took effect on New Year’s Day. It requires insurance companies to provide discounts for commercial vehicles equipped with dashboard cameras and telematics systems.

“These payouts are very, very big, sometimes in the millions of dollars. And it’s just an easier way to be able to see exactly what happened,” Lovecchio said.

Burghardt and Lovecchio agree that auto insurance rates are beginning to come down.

“More than 20 auto insurance carriers have filed for rate reductions,” Burghardt said.

Lovecchio added, “It went down in 2025, and it will go down again in 2026.”

Another law that took effect in August affects undocumented immigrants involved in accidents.

“If an undocumented immigrant is not at fault in an accident and they are hit by a resident of Louisiana, then that undocumented immigrant is barred from collecting from the person who hit them,” Lovecchio said. “Now, if the undocumented immigrant has purchased uninsured motorist coverage on their own policy, they are not barred from collecting from uninsured motorists.”

Louisiana’s updated “No Pay, No Play” law also raises the recovery threshold for uninsured drivers from $15,000 to $100,000 for bodily injury. That means uninsured drivers involved in an accident cannot recover the first $100,000 in damages, regardless of fault. The revision took effect earlier in 2025.

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