Written by Kelley Dick, personal injury attorney at Mansfield Melancon Injury Lawyers — mmcdlaw.com/about-us/our-team/kelley-dick/
Insurance companies don’t work on your timeline. After a crash in Louisiana, you may be waiting on a settlement check while medical bills pile up and your car sits in a repair shop. What many people don’t know is that Louisiana law sets specific deadlines on how quickly insurers must acknowledge, investigate, and pay claims — and that missing those deadlines can expose the insurer to penalties. Here’s what the Louisiana insurance claim deadline law requires and what to do when an insurer goes past it.
Louisiana’s Statutory Deadlines for Insurance Claims
Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:1892 and 22:1892 set the framework for claims handling obligations. Under these statutes, an insurer must acknowledge receipt of a claim within 30 days, initiate a loss investigation promptly, make a written offer of settlement or denial within 30 days of receiving satisfactory proof of loss, and pay a settled claim within 30 days of agreement.
These are not suggestions — they are statutory obligations. An insurer that fails to pay a valid claim within the required timeframe without a valid reason can face penalties of 50% of the damages owed plus reasonable attorney fees under La. R.S. 22:1892, or penalties up to two times the damages owed under La. R.S. 22:1892 for bad faith conduct.
What Counts as “Satisfactory Proof of Loss”?
This is where insurers often slow the clock deliberately. Proof of loss typically includes your medical records, bills, a statement of your injuries, evidence of lost wages, and documentation of the crash itself. Insurers may delay by requesting additional records, disputing which records are necessary, or claiming the investigation is still ongoing.
An attorney can submit a complete, organized proof of loss package that triggers the 30-day clock clearly and in documented form. Our personal injury attorneys handle this for clients across all three markets so nothing gets delayed by an insurer’s paperwork tactics.
When an Insurer Goes Past the Louisiana Insurance Claim Deadline
Document every communication — date, time, who you spoke with, what was said. If the insurer misses a statutory deadline, that delay is potentially actionable. Bad faith penalty claims require showing the insurer had a valid, undisputed claim and failed to pay it timely without a legitimate reason. The penalty provisions under La. R.S. 22:1892 are designed to deter exactly this kind of delay tactic.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if the insurer says they are still investigating?
An ongoing investigation can justify some delay, but it is not a blanket excuse to hold off indefinitely. If liability is clear and the insurer is not moving, an attorney can put them on notice that the statutory deadlines apply and that failure to pay exposes them to bad faith penalties under La. R.S. 22:1892 and 22:1892.
Do these deadlines apply to my own insurance company too?
Yes. Louisiana’s claims handling statutes apply to all insurers operating in the state, including your own insurance company on a UM/UIM claim or a first-party property claim. Your own insurer is held to the same statutory obligations as the at-fault driver’s insurer.
Can I file a bad faith claim against an insurer on my own?
You can attempt to, but bad faith claims are legally complex and the burden of proof falls on you to show the claim was valid, undisputed, and that the insurer’s delay was unjustified. An attorney experienced in Louisiana insurance law significantly improves your chances of a successful bad faith claim.