On the Louisiana Property & Casualty exam, the Personal Automobile Policy appears both as a standard ISO-style contract and as a set of Louisiana auto laws you must apply. This standalone guide reviews the policy's coverage parts, then drills into the Louisiana overlay: the 15/30/25 financial-responsibility minimums, the at-fault (tort) system with pure comparative negligence, the rule that UM/UIM must be rejected in writing, the state's signature direct action statute, and cancellation/nonrenewal notice. The Louisiana-specific material is where most state credit is earned.

Policy structure (the national base)

The Personal Auto Policy (PAP) is a packaged contract organized into lettered parts:

• Part A — Liability: pays bodily injury (BI) and property damage (PD) the insured is legally liable for; the insurer provides a defense, and supplementary payments (defense costs, bail bonds) are paid in addition to the limit.
• Part B — Medical Payments: pays medical/funeral costs for occupants regardless of fault.
• Part C — Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists: pays the insured's injuries when the at-fault party is uninsured or underinsured.
• Part D — Coverage for Damage to Your Auto: Collision and Other Than Collision (Comprehensive), each with a deductible, settled at Actual Cash Value (ACV).
• Part E — Duties After an Accident or Loss and Part F — General Provisions.

Limits may be written as split limits (e.g., 15/30/25) or as a Combined Single Limit (CSL). Insureds include the named insured, resident family members, and permissive users. A named driver exclusion can remove coverage when a specifically named person drives. That framework is national; Louisiana governs the limits and the liability environment around it.

Louisiana uses a tort (at-fault) liability system

Louisiana is an at-fault / tort state, not a no-fault state. The driver who causes a crash is financially responsible, and the injured party collects from that driver's liability coverage or by filing suit. This is why liability coverage and financial responsibility dominate Louisiana auto law.

Critically, Louisiana applies PURE comparative negligence. Under this rule, a claimant's recovery is reduced by their own percentage of fault but is never barred—even a claimant who is 90% at fault can still recover the remaining 10%. This is a sharp contrast to modified comparative states (which bar recovery above 50% or 51%) and to contributory states (which bar any at-fault claimant). Expect the exam to test that Louisiana is pure comparative.

The direct action statute

Louisiana's direct action statute is a feature you must know for auto claims. Under specified conditions, an injured third party may sue the at-fault driver's liability insurer directly, rather than being forced to sue only the driver. Combined with pure comparative negligence and the civil-law tradition, this makes Louisiana's auto-claims environment unusually plaintiff-accessible. Remember the headline: the injured party can name and pursue the insurer directly.

Financial responsibility: 15/30/25

Every Louisiana driver must show financial responsibility, usually by carrying liability insurance at or above the minimum split limits (commonly cited—verify current figures):

• $15,000 bodily injury per person
• $30,000 bodily injury per accident
• $25,000 property damage per accident

Shorthand: "15/30/25." These are statutory floors; producers routinely recommend higher limits. An SR-22 is a financial-responsibility filing certifying that a driver carries the required liability insurance—often required after serious violations.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist rules: rejection in writing

This is a heavily tested Louisiana area:

• UM/UIM coverage must be OFFERED on every auto policy, generally at limits equal to the policy's bodily-injury liability limits.
• To reject UM/UIM, or to select lower limits, the insured must do so in writing on a valid form. Silence or a verbal request is not enough—if there is no valid written rejection, UM/UIM is generally read into the policy at the BI limits.
• UM responds when the at-fault driver is uninsured or a hit-and-run; UIM fills the gap when the at-fault driver has some but insufficient coverage.
• Louisiana also recognizes stacking in some situations—combining UM limits across multiple owned vehicles to increase available coverage.

Memorize the headline: in Louisiana, UM/UIM must be offered and can only be waived or reduced by a written rejection/selection form.

Optional and physical-damage coverages

• Medical Payments (Med Pay) is optional and pays medical/funeral costs regardless of fault. Louisiana does not mandate PIP/no-fault.
• Collision and Comprehensive (Other Than Collision) are optional but typically required by a lender. Hitting an animal or theft is Comprehensive, not Collision.
• Gap coverage pays the difference between ACV and the loan balance after a total loss; an insurer may apply a betterment deduction when new parts leave the insured better than before.

Cancellation and nonrenewal

Louisiana regulates how an insurer may end a personal auto policy, generally requiring advance written notice before canceling or nonrenewing. The exact timelines are commonly cited rather than uniform—verify the current figures:

• Mid-term cancellation generally requires advance written notice, with a shorter window allowed for nonpayment of premium.
• After a policy has been in force a set period, cancellation is limited to specific reasons such as nonpayment, license suspension/revocation, or fraud/material misrepresentation.
• Nonrenewal at the end of the term likewise requires advance written notice so the insured can find replacement coverage.

Keep the shorter nonpayment-cancellation notice distinct from the longer ordinary cancellation / nonrenewal notice.

Key Louisiana numbers to memorize

Common exam traps

• Louisiana is at-fault (tort), not no-fault. There is no mandatory PIP.
• Pure—not modified—comparative negligence. Even a mostly-at-fault claimant recovers a reduced amount.
• UM/UIM can only be waived in WRITING. A phone call or doing nothing does not waive it.
• 15/30/25—the $25k is property damage; the $15k is BI per person.
• The direct action statute lets the injured party sue the insurer directly—a Louisiana signature.
• Hitting an animal is Comprehensive, not Collision (national rule still applies).
• Liability supplementary payments (defense, bail) are paid on top of the limit.

Quick recap

• The PAP's Parts A–F structure is national; Louisiana sets the limits and legal framework.
• Louisiana is a tort/at-fault state using pure comparative negligence—recovery is reduced by fault but never barred.
• Minimum liability is 15/30/25 (verify).
• UM/UIM must be offered and can only be rejected or reduced in writing.
• The direct action statute lets an injured party sue the liability insurer directly.
• Louisiana has no mandatory no-fault/PIP; Med Pay and physical damage are optional, and cancellation/nonrenewal require advance written notice.