Lafayette Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Accident Lawyer

Louisiana auto insurers incurred 14,100 uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM and UIM) bodily-injury claims in 2022, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. When the driver who hit you had no insurance, or not enough, the money usually has to come from UM or UIM coverage. Suing on it has a two-year deadline.

Brandt & Sherman has more than 50 years of combined experience taking on insurance companies for people hurt across Acadiana. Your own insurer included.

What your insurer owes you, and what you owe it

Your insurer must pay what it owes on a UM claim within 30 days of receiving satisfactory proof of loss (R.S. 22:1892). That means enough paperwork to show what it owes. If your insurer requires its state-approved proof-of-loss form, only the completed form starts the clock (R.S. 22:1892.3). It also owes you fair, prompt handling. A failure that is arbitrary, capricious or without probable cause can cost it statutory penalties, explained on our denied insurance claims and bad faith page.

Courts enforce that clock. A driver hit a woman's husband at a Lake Charles mall, and she saw him face down in the road just after hearing the crash. In a 2-1 decision in 2018, Louisiana's Third Circuit Court of Appeal, which hears Lafayette appeals, affirmed her $50,000 bystander award under the couple's own State Farm UM coverage. It also affirmed a $25,000 penalty against State Farm for arbitrarily and capriciously refusing to pay her claim within 30 days of written proof, plus attorney fees (Doty v. GoAuto Insurance Co., La. App. 3 Cir. 2018). R.S. 22:1892 has been amended since, but its 30-day rule remains.

The duty runs both ways. Since July 1, 2024, the same statute has held you to good faith too. If you knowingly misstate facts or demand money with no honest evidence behind it, the judge or jury must weigh that when deciding on penalties or attorney fees. That is why we build the proof of loss ourselves.

Louisiana insurers must include UM coverage at least equal to your liability limits unless a named insured rejected it, chose lower limits or chose economic-only coverage on the state's form. Since Act 770 of 2024 took effect on August 1, 2024, even a signed form that was not properly completed can still reject or reduce the coverage if the insured is found to have meant to. Our guide to uninsured motorist coverage in Louisiana explains the form rules. We request that form first.

Was the other driver uninsured or underinsured?

A driver with no insurance is uninsured. One whose coverage is less than your damages is underinsured, and Louisiana law treats that vehicle as uninsured too, so your UIM answers for damages above their limits, up to yours.

In Louisiana, plan for the underinsured claim. The state's minimum bodily-injury coverage is $15,000 per person (R.S. 32:900).

Serious crashes cluster on some Lafayette roads. Federal fatal-crash records show eight people killed in eight separate crashes from 2019 through 2024 within about 200 feet (60 meters) of where Chalmette Drive meets Northwest Evangeline Thruway (NHTSA FARS, 2019-2024).

Johnston Street is another. On the roughly 1.3-mile stretch between Bertrand Drive and Churchill Drive, eight people were seriously injured or killed from 2018 through 2022, according to Lafayette Consolidated Government. In December 2025 Lafayette won a $7,986,192 federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant to make safety improvements along it.

The Insurance Research Council (IRC), which insurers fund, puts Louisiana's 2022 underinsured-motorist rate at 35.6%, more than double the U.S. figure of 15.7%. That rate compares UIM claims with bodily-injury liability claims. It counts neither drivers nor crashes.

Hit-and-runs usually become UM claims too. If the cars never touched, the proof rules are stricter, and our Lafayette hit-and-run accident lawyers handle those.

Which policy pays, and in what order

The at-fault driver's liability insurance pays first, then UM coverage in an order set by R.S. 22:1295. We call it the payment ladder.

1. The at-fault driver's policy works like any other Lafayette car accident claim, with one catch. Tell your UM insurer before you settle with or release that driver; it has rights in that recovery, and your policy may require its consent.
2. In your own car, your policy's UM comes next, and it is usually the only UM coverage that pays. In a car not owned by you, your resident spouse or a resident relative, that car's UM is the primary UM coverage.
3. Only in that second case, if the car's UM runs out, one more UM coverage available to you can pay as excess. Never more than one.

A policy's UM does not cover you while you are in a car you own that the policy does not list. The exceptions are a newly acquired or replacement car the policy covers, and a policy that lists no specific vehicles. Check the listing.

Hurt in a company vehicle?

A company vehicle's commercial auto policy is presumed to carry no UM coverage if the business neither selected it on the state's form nor paid a premium that includes it. That rule took effect August 1, 2024. For policies issued earlier, the old rule (UM included unless rejected on the form) may still apply, so check the dates. Do not assume that policy pays, or that it does not. A crash on the clock can also involve workers' compensation.

Coverage fights here can be large. In 2020 the Third Circuit reversed a Natchitoches Parish jury that had found no UM coverage for a poultry-company employee whose company vehicle was hit by a driver with $15,000 in liability coverage. The auto policy of his employer's parent company had a 2014 UM form that was signed with no coverage choice initialed. The court held that form valid, said the company's intent could not be used to undo it, and found $5 million in UM coverage. It rendered judgment of $859,306.25 for him, and the Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed in 2021 (Baack v. McIntosh, La. App. 3 Cir. 2020, aff'd La. 2021). That case was decided before Act 770 of 2024. Act 770 lets a signed but improperly completed form reject coverage if the insured meant to, and it added the commercial-policy rule above, so a similar case on a newer policy could come out differently.

Your deadlines in a UM claim

You have two years from the accident date to sue on your UM coverage (R.S. 9:5629). Missing it can end the claim. The claim against the at-fault driver runs on its own clock: for claims arising after July 1, 2024, two years from the day of the injury (Civil Code art. 3493.1).

The 2026 changes that reach a UM claim

Expect your own insurer to argue fault. UM pays only what you are "legally entitled to recover" from the at-fault driver. For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a person found 51% or more at fault recovers nothing (Civil Code art. 2323, as amended by Act 15 of 2025). Under 51%, or in any earlier crash, your share only reduces the award.

Medical bills follow special rules. Since 2021, when health insurance or Medicare paid a contracted provider, recovery of those bills has been limited to what was actually paid plus the copays, coinsurance and deductibles you paid or still owe, not the billed amount (R.S. 9:2800.27). Bills Medicaid paid are treated the same way. For suits filed on or after January 1, 2026, Act 466 of 2025 repealed an extra 40% award on the billed-paid gap, lets the jury hear both amounts, and limits bills your lawyer pre-negotiated with a provider to the amount paid under that agreement. Other bills you still owe, including bills on a lien, remain recoverable. UM claims are not carved out.

How we build a UM or UIM claim

We build a UM claim around the proof of loss, which starts your insurer's 30-day clock. It comes from these records.

• The crash report from Lafayette Police, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office or Louisiana State Police.
• Your full policy, including any UM selection or rejection form.
• Proof the other driver was uninsured, such as sworn affidavits.
• Medical records and bills, with what each provider was actually paid.

Still no fair offer? Then you can sue. An arbitration clause in your policy is your choice to use, and it cannot take away that right. The 15th Judicial District Court hears civil cases in Lafayette, Acadia and Vermilion Parishes; its Lafayette courthouse is at 800 South Buchanan Street.

What to do now

• Ask your insurer, and your employer if you drove a company vehicle, for the complete policy. Request any UM selection or rejection form, and note the date it was signed.
• Report the crash to your own insurer promptly. Check your policy's notice terms.
• Call us before you give a recorded statement, complete a proof-of-loss form or sign anything from any insurer, including your own.

Uninsured motorist claim FAQs

How long do I have to file an uninsured motorist claim in Louisiana?

Report the crash to your insurer promptly. Your policy sets the notice terms. The deadline to sue on your UM coverage is two years from the accident date (R.S. 9:5629). A separate two-year deadline applies to claims against the at-fault driver arising after July 1, 2024.

Do I need a lawyer for a claim against my own insurance company?

No law requires one. But the adjuster on a UM or UIM claim works for the company that pays it, and Louisiana law holds you to a duty of good faith too (R.S. 22:1892). A knowing misstatement in your claim must be weighed against you when penalties and attorney fees are decided.

Which insurance pays first if I was hurt in someone else's car?

If the at-fault driver has liability insurance, that pays first, but tell your UM insurer before you settle with or release that driver. Next, if you were riding in a car not owned by you, your resident spouse or a resident relative, that car's UM is primary (R.S. 22:1295). If your damages exhaust it, one other UM coverage available to you can pay as excess. Never more than one.

How long does my insurance company have to pay a UM claim in Louisiana?

Thirty days. The clock starts when the insurer receives satisfactory proof of loss, meaning enough documentation to show what it owes. If the insurer requires its state-approved proof-of-loss form, only the completed form counts. An insurer whose failure to pay is arbitrary, capricious or without probable cause can owe statutory penalties (R.S. 22:1892).

How do I prove the other driver had no insurance?

Sworn statements work. Louisiana's UM statute accepts several kinds, including notarized affidavits from both the other vehicle's owner and its driver saying they had no liability insurance, or an affidavit from a Department of Public Safety and Corrections official that the state's insurance inquiry went unanswered for 30 days or was answered no. Each puts the burden on your UM insurer to prove the driver was insured.

Is it worth suing the uninsured or underinsured driver who hit me?

Sometimes, but the money is usually in your own coverage. A driver with no insurance may have little to collect. Then the UM claim carries the case. With an underinsured driver, their limits come first and your UIM answers for the rest, up to your limits. Before you accept those limits or sign a release, tell your UM insurer; it has rights in that recovery, and your policy may require its consent.

I had no insurance myself. Can I still recover?

It depends on whose car you were in and how the crash happened. If you owned or drove the uninsured car, No Pay No Play bars the first $100,000 of injury damages and of property damage for crashes on or after August 1, 2025. For crashes before August 1, 2025, lower thresholds applied: $15,000 for injuries and $25,000 for property damage. Without a policy, you may have UM through a spouse's or live-in relative's policy, depending on its terms, except in a car you own that it does not list.

What are the exceptions to No Pay No Play?

The bar lifts if the other driver caused the crash on purpose, fled, was committing a felony, or was cited for drunk driving and convicted or pleaded no contest. It also does not apply to a legally parked car. A non-owner passenger can still claim. An uninsured owner who sues over a crash on or after August 1, 2025 and is awarded $100,000 or less for injuries pays every party's court costs. For earlier crashes, the trigger was an award at or below the state's minimum required coverage.

Will my UM coverage pay punitive damages if a drunk driver hit me?

Possibly not. Louisiana law allows exemplary damages against a driver whose intoxication caused your injuries and who showed wanton or reckless disregard for others' safety. But required UM coverage is for nonpunitive damages. A policy can also exclude punitive or exemplary damages outright. If yours does not cover them, that part of the claim runs against the drunk driver alone.

Talk to a Lafayette Uninsured Motorist Accident Lawyer

Your own insurer knows your policy. We read it first.

Call (337) 800-4000 or contact us online. The consultation is free, and there is no attorney fee unless we win. Clients may be responsible for costs and expenses.