SR-22 insurance in Louisiana

Louisiana's floor is the lowest on this site at 15/30/25, and it keeps proof for 3 years in every case. After a DUI or a refused test, the proof has to cover every vehicle you own and you, personally, as a non-owner.

What a Louisiana certified policy carries

Chapter 5 of Louisiana's Title 32 defines the owner's policy that can be certified as proof. Its limits are $15,000 per person / $30,000 per accident / $25,000 property damage — 15/30/25. The authority is La. Rev. Stat. sec. 32:900(B)(2).

That is $15,000 for injury to or death of one person, $30,000 for two or more people in one accident, and $25,000 for property of others. The per-person figure is the lowest of every state on this site; Florida requires several times as much for the same injury. The property figure, by contrast, sits at the level many states use.

The thin end of the policy is the injury line

A serious injury claim can pass $15,000 quickly. The statute sets the floor for the filing; it says nothing about whether that floor is enough, and a quote at the minimum is exactly that.

After a DUI or a refused test: two kinds of proof

When a license is suspended on a DUI conviction, guilty plea or bond forfeiture — or for refusing a chemical test — no license is reinstated unless the person gives and maintains proof “with respect to all motor vehicles registered by him and shall show financial responsibility individually as a non-owner for a period of three years.”

Read closely, that is two requirements. The vehicles registered in the person's name each need proof; and the person needs proof that follows them into any other car. A driver with two cars and no non-owner cover is not finished when both cars are insured.

Unlicensed drivers

Someone convicted of an offense that would require suspension, or of driving without a license or an unregistered vehicle, cannot be issued a license until they give and maintain proof when required.

Three years — in all cases

Louisiana puts the period in a section of its own, one sentence long: “In all cases, under this Chapter, in which a person is required to give proof of financial responsibility, he shall maintain such proof for a period of three years.” La. Rev. Stat. sec. 32:909; sec. 32:908(A)(1).

The release section adds the familiar test. After three years from the date proof was required, the commissioner consents to cancellation if the preceding three years are clean of a conviction or bail forfeiture that would permit suspension. Release also follows death, permanent incapacity, or surrender of license and registration.

Ten days' electronic notice

Certified insurance cannot be canceled until at least ten days after the insurer files a notice electronically with the commissioner. A replacement policy that is certified ends the earlier one on its own effective date.

What a lapse costs

Separately, when a vehicle's required security lapses, the registration is revoked and sanctions stay until proof and fees are provided. The reinstatement fee scales with the gap: $100 per violation for one to thirty days uninsured, $250 for thirty-one to ninety days, and $500 for more than ninety days. There is no fee where the gap was ten days or less and the plate was surrendered within ten days.

An owner can give proof for others

Where a person required to give proof works for an owner, or is a member of the owner's immediate family or household, the commissioner accepts the owner's proof in place of the person's own so they can drive a vehicle the owner has given proof for. The restriction is designated on the face of the license. The non-owner guide compares the states.

What this page does not cover

Louisiana's DUI penalties, suspension lengths and interlock conditions are in other parts of Title 32 that this site has not read, so none of them is described here.

A note on sources

The Legislature's statute site did not respond to the machine this page was built on, so the Revised Statutes were read from a published reproduction.

Getting a comparable quote in Louisiana

After a DUI, ask for both pieces

Owner's cover on every registered vehicle, plus individual non-owner cover. Quote both before assuming you are done.

Check the limits line

15/30/25. It is the legal floor, not a recommendation.

Do not let it lapse

Every extra month uninsured moves the reinstatement fee up a tier.

Louisiana's clock is compared with every other state's in the filing-period guide.

Common questions about the Louisiana SR-22