Governor Landry signs historic Tort Reform Package addressing Louisiana’s insurance crisis

This week, Governor Jeff Landry signed the largest tort reform effort in Louisiana history into law.

Tort reform laws typically aim to limit individual rights to file lawsuits, particularly by preventing frivolous lawsuits and bodily insurance claims which drive up insurance costs statewide.

These bills come on the heels of a Louisiana Department of Insurance review, which shows that Louisiana leads the country in excessive litigation and bodily injury claims– which in turn plays a large role in Louisiana’s insurance crisis.

“The numbers overwhelmingly show that Louisiana’s bodily injury claims environment is unsustainable compared to national and regional markets,” said Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple. “Our state is generating massive financial losses from bodily injury claims despite our relatively small population. The findings are crystal clear– we must reduce bodily injury claims and excessive litigation to lower the cost of auto insurance in Louisiana.”

While Louisiana represents only 1.4% of the U.S. population, it is responsible for 3.65% of the nation’s bodily injury claims, the NAIC reports. Drivers from Louisiana file more than twice as many bodily injury claims per capita as the national average.

“Today, we’ve taken steps to shield Louisianans from frivolous lawsuits driven by trial lawyers— using a data-driven strategy. And we made it clear to insurance companies that they must answer to their policyholders,” said Governor Landry.

The bills signed into law on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 are as follows (summaries provided by the Office of the Governor): 

HB 148: Insurance Commissioner Authority:

Grants the Insurance Commissioner greater authority to hold down rates.
Texas, Mississippi, South Caroline, Florida, or Alabama—to just name a few states— all grant their insurance commissioner this power.

HB 450: Housley Presumption:

Would require someone who sued over injuries in a car accident to show that the injuries actually occurred during the accident.

HB 434: No Pay No Play:

Would disallow a driver without car insurance from collecting an award for bodily injury medical expenses for any amount below $100,000, up from $15,000 today.

HB 436: Illegal Aliens:

Would prohibit undocumented immigrants who are injured in car accidents from collecting general damages

HB 431: Comparative Fault:

Would bar drivers responsible for at least 51% of an accident from receiving a damage award to cover their injuries. Under current law, a driver responsible for, say, 51% of the accident can collect a payment equal to 49% of the overall damage award.

HB 549: Dash Cam Discount:

Provides a premium discount for commercial motor vehicles with dashboard cameras and telematics systems.

To watch the press conference in full, please click here.