Louisiana Auto Insurance Quotes and
Coverage Guide
Louisiana Motor Vehicle Insurance
Questions & AnswersQ: Is
auto insurance mandatory?
A: Yes. You must provide proof of insurance
when you register your car. Acceptable proof of
liability insurance is a copy of your policy or
binder, a copy of the I.D. card issued by the
insurance company, a copy of the declaration page,
or a statement from the insurance company or agent
written on the company’s letterhead. This statement
must include the full description of the vehicle and
its vehicle identification number (VIN), and if you
can’t provide these documents, trying to bribe the
clerk with crawfish gumbo will only get security
called. (This person may hate gumbo, preferring
instead to suck them out of their shells, head and
all, and may call them “crawdads,” not “crawfish.”)
Q: Is Louisiana a "tort" state?
A: Yes. In Louisiana, you can get the Mardi
Gras beads sued right off you for the pain and
suffering in a wreck caused by trying to eat your
crawfish gumbo while driving. You are liable for
out-of-pocket medical expenses, too, so walk on down
to the bayou to eat them or try sucking them out of
their shells, instead – but just don’t choke while
you’re driving.
Q: What type of insurance is required to purchase
and maintain a Louisiana tag and registration?
A: To get tagged and registered, you will
need Louisiana’s minimum insurance coverage of
10/20/10. These figures having nothing to do with
the pounds of crawfish gumbo consumed in a
three-week period by the average Louisianan, but
refer instead to bodily injury and property damage
you might cause in a wreck. The first two figures
refer to bodily injury liability and the third
figure to property damage liability: $10,000 for one
person’s injuries, $20,000 for all people injured,
and $10,000 for any crawfish stands you destroy when
you run off the road because you didn’t take the
above advice about eating in your car.
Q: Can I maintain my current policy issued in my
previous state of residence?
A: No. You have to get a policy from a
company or agent licensed to do business in
Louisiana so the Office of Motor Vehicles can keep
tabs on who’s running into crawfish stands and who’s
not. You also may want to check out the insurance
companies you’re considering to make sure they don’t
have any complaints against them, what kind of
rating they hold with national insurance rating
services, and whether they use the term “crawfish”
or “crawdad.” You can get this info from the
Louisiana Department of Insurance’s Web site:
http://www.ldi.state.la.us.
Q: What if I fail to keep insurance on my vehicle
that I’ve registered in Louisiana?
A: After you’ve been pulled over, and it’s
discovered you are without insurance by your local
friendly peace officer who may or may not know the
clerk at the OMV you tried to bribe with gumbo, you
will be given three days to produce proof of
insurance to that same OMV office. If you’re caught
again, and you still haven’t gotten either the
insurance or the nerve to face the clerk again, the
officer can take your Mardi Gras beads, your license
plates, or even impound your vehicle until you do
get the coverage or the courage. And to add insult
to an already injured crawfish-eating ego, you will
have to pay the towing fees on your car and also any
reinstatement fees. Fines for the first conviction
range from $75-$100, $100-$250 for the second
go-round, and up to $700 thereafter. You could buy a
lot of crawfish and beads for that kind of money.
There is also the infamous Louisiana auto insurance
law known as "No Pay, No Play." If you’re driving
around uninsured, get into a wreck, and it was the
other person’s fault, this law keeps you from
collecting the first $10,000 in property damages and
the first $10,000, which means you collect the
whopping sum of $0.00 if you were the only one in
your car.
Q: I own several vehicles but do not operate
some of them. Do I need insurance for the
inoperative ones?
A: There are two options available to you,
depending on if you plan on ever driving them again.
One is to immediately turn in your license plates to
the Office of Motor Vehicles, which means you can
sit it in all day or night and eat your crawfish
gumbo or suck them out of their shells to your
heart’s content – just don’t drive any of those
vehicles. But if someone else gets in your car,
sucks on a crawfish and winds up knocking themselves
silly trying to get out of the car to spit the stuff
out, you may wish you had kept some sort of
insurance.
Your other option is to file an affidavit of non-use
with your local Office of Motor Vehicles stating
that you will not be driving your vehicles. You are
eligible to file the affidavit if the vehicles are
registered in your name, and if you haven’t spent
all your money on crawfish and let the insurance
lapse on them. The statement must include the
vehicle identification number (VIN), the beginning
and the estimated end dates of non-use, and whether
or not you say, “crawfish” or “crawdad.” This
affidavit must be notarized and filed with the
Office of Motor Vehicles while you still have
liability insurance in effect on the car.
If you ever want to drive the vehicles again, you
must renew the insurance on them and provide the OMV
with proof of that insurance before driving them.
And don’t even mention crawfish to the clerk.
Q: No insurance company will sell me the
insurance coverage I need. Don’t I have any rights?
A: You have the right to apply for insurance,
but insurance companies also have the right to
refuse to write you a policy if you don’t meet their
guidelines, like saying, “crawfish” instead of
“crawdad.” The Louisiana Automobile Insurance Plan
was formed to provide insurance for people who say
“crawfish” and who have trouble getting the required
auto liability insurance. You have the right to
apply for and receive coverage through this plan as
long as you can provide a valid Louisiana driver’s
license and have already been turned down by other
insurers. Any auto insurance agent can complete the
application for you. Expect to pay significantly
more than you would for regular policies given to
people who say “crawdad” and who keep their driving
record clean. For more info about LAIP, you can
visit the Department of Insurance Web site at
http://www.ldi.state.la.us/index.htm.
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