2024 Legislative Update: Time for Filing Personal Injury Lawsuits Extended
Amidst news of attempts to reform the insurance industry, one development meriting particular attention is a recent change to Louisiana’s law of prescription. Called a “statute of limitations” in other states, the prescriptive period under the Louisiana Civil Code is the time allowed to file a lawsuit after an accident or other injury happens. For many years, Louisiana law has required that a lawsuit regarding a delictual (tort or personal injury) claim be filed within one (1) year from the date of the accident. That one-year period had been criticized by some as being too restrictive and tending to increase the volume of lawsuits filed, with resultant burdens to the judicial system and increased insurance premiums.
In the 2024 Louisiana legislative session, Act No. 423 changed the law by lengthening the prescriptive period to allow two (2) years for the filing of a lawsuit alleging tort claims. Enacted as Civil Code articles 3493.11 and 3493.12, the new law went into effect on July 1, 2024. These new statutes retain the general trigger date from which prescriptive periods begin to run—from the date of injury in most personal injury claims and from the date of actual or constructive knowledge of damages to immovable property (real estate).
Will this change in the law provide increased benefits to accident victims, to the insurance industry, or to the general public? Injured individuals and businesses may benefit from having an additional year to ascertain the extent of their medical or financial injuries, seek medical treatment (in the event of personal injury), and negotiate a settlement without needing to incur the expense of filing a lawsuit. On the other hand, the extended prescriptive period may enhance the risk of potential destruction or deletion of evidence before suit is filed and the risk of witnesses’ memories and other evidence growing stale by the time suit is filed. One theory is that the automobile insurance market, in particular, will become more favorable to consumers because the extended prescriptive period will permit more time for pre-suit settlement negotiations, resulting in fewer lawsuits, which may result in reduced insurance premiums.
The extended two-year prescriptive period for filing a claim against the negligent party is also consistent with the two-year period for filing uninsured or underinsured motorist (“UM”) claims against one’s UM insurer.
Only time will tell us the consequences of Act 423. For now, Louisiana residents and other parties who appear in Louisiana courts need to be aware of this significant change in the law.