§1295. Uninsured motorist coverage
The following provisions shall govern the issuance of uninsured motorist coverage
in this state:
(1)(a)(i) No automobile liability insurance covering liability arising out of the
ownership, maintenance, or use of any motor vehicle shall be delivered or issued for delivery
in this state with respect to any motor vehicle designed for use on public highways and
required to be registered in this state or as provided in this Section unless coverage is
provided therein or supplemental thereto, in not less than the limits of bodily injury liability
provided by the policy, under provisions filed with and approved by the commissioner, for
the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover nonpunitive
damages from owners or operators o
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§1295. Uninsured motorist coverage
The following provisions shall govern the issuance of uninsured motorist coverage
in this state:
(1)(a)(i) No automobile liability insurance covering liability arising out of the
ownership, maintenance, or use of any motor vehicle shall be delivered or issued for delivery
in this state with respect to any motor vehicle designed for use on public highways and
required to be registered in this state or as provided in this Section unless coverage is
provided therein or supplemental thereto, in not less than the limits of bodily injury liability
provided by the policy, under provisions filed with and approved by the commissioner, for
the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover nonpunitive
damages from owners or operators of uninsured or underinsured motor vehicles because of
bodily injury, sickness, or disease, including death resulting therefrom; however, the
coverage required under this Section is not applicable when any insured named in the policy
either rejects coverage, selects lower limits, or selects economic-only coverage, in the
manner provided in Item (ii) of this Subparagraph. In no event shall the policy limits of an
uninsured motorist policy be less than the minimum liability limits required under R.S.
32:900, unless economic-only coverage is selected as authorized in this Section. Such
coverage need not be provided in or supplemental to a renewal, reinstatement, or substitute
policy when the named insured has rejected the coverage or selected lower limits in
connection with a policy previously issued to him by the same insurer or any of its affiliates.
The coverage provided pursuant to this Section may exclude coverage for punitive or
exemplary damages by the terms of the policy or contract. Insurers may also make available,
at a reduced premium, the coverage provided pursuant to this Section with an exclusion for
all noneconomic loss. This coverage shall be known as "economic-only" uninsured motorist
coverage. Noneconomic loss means any loss other than economic loss and includes but is
not limited to pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, and other noneconomic
damages otherwise recoverable under the laws of this state.
(ii) Such rejection, selection of lower limits, or selection of economic-only coverage
shall be made only on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The prescribed form shall be
provided by the insurer and signed by the named insured or his legal representative. The
form signed by the named insured or his legal representative which initially rejects the
coverage, selects lower limits, or selects economic-only coverage shall be conclusively
presumed to become a part of the policy or contract when issued and delivered, irrespective
of whether physically attached thereto. A properly completed and signed form creates a
rebuttable presumption that the insured knowingly rejected coverage, selected a lower limit,
or selected economic-only coverage. If the form is signed but not properly completed, such
that the rebuttable presumption does not apply, there shall be no uninsured motorist coverage
or modified uninsured motorist coverage, as applicable, if it is determined that the insured
or his representative intended to reject or modify the uninsured motorist coverage. An
insurer may require the producer of record to obtain a completed selection form and deliver
the form to the insurer; however, the insurer shall verify that the form is properly completed,
retain a copy of the form as part of the policy, and shall not delegate this obligation to retain
a properly completed form to the producer of record. The form signed by the insured or his
legal representative which initially rejects coverage, selects lower limits, or selects
economic-only coverage shall remain valid for the life of the policy and shall not require the
completion of a new selection form when a renewal, reinstatement, substitute, or amended
policy is issued to the same named insured by the same insurer or any of its affiliates. An
insured may change the original uninsured motorist selection or rejection on a policy at any
time during the life of the policy by submitting a new uninsured motorist selection form to
the insurer on the form prescribed by the commissioner. Any changes to an existing policy,
regardless of whether these changes create new coverage, except changes in the limits of
liability, do not create a new policy and do not require the completion of new uninsured
motorist selection forms. For the purpose of this Section, a "new policy" means an original
contract of insurance which an insured enters into through the completion of an application
on the form required by the insurer.
(iii) This Subparagraph and its requirement for uninsured motorist coverage shall
apply to any liability insurance covering any accident which occurs in this state and involves
a resident of this state.
(iv) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this Section, an automobile liability
policy written to provide coverage for a school bus may limit the scope of uninsured motorist
liability to only provide liability coverage for damages incurred by reason of an accident or
incident involving the school bus, or a temporary substitute vehicle, and such limitation shall
limit the uninsured motorist coverage of a named insured in the policy to only damages
incurred by reason of such accident or incident.
(b) Any insurer delivering or issuing an automobile liability insurance policy referred
to herein shall also permit the insured, at his written request, to increase the coverage
applicable to uninsured motor vehicles provided for herein to any available limit up to the
bodily injury liability coverage limits afforded under the policy.
(c) If the insured has any limits of uninsured motorist coverage in a policy of
automobile liability insurance, in accordance with the terms of Subparagraph (1)(a) of this
Section, then such limits of liability shall not be increased because of multiple motor vehicles
covered under such policy of insurance, and such limits of uninsured motorist coverage shall
not be increased when the insured has insurance available to him under more than one
uninsured motorist coverage provision or policy; however, with respect to other insurance
available, the policy of insurance or endorsement shall provide the following with respect
to bodily injury to an injured party while occupying an automobile not owned by said injured
party, resident spouse, or resident relative, and the following priorities of recovery under
uninsured motorist coverage shall apply:
(i) The uninsured motorist coverage on the vehicle in which the injured party was
an occupant is primary.
(ii) Should that primary uninsured motorist coverage be exhausted due to the extent
of damages, then the injured occupant may recover as excess from other uninsured motorist
coverage available to him. In no instance shall more than one coverage from more than one
uninsured motorist policy be available as excess over and above the primary coverage
available to the injured occupant.
(d) Unless the named insured has rejected uninsured motorist coverage, the insurer
issuing an automobile liability policy that does not afford collision coverage for a vehicle
insured thereunder shall, at the written request of a named insured, provide coverage in the
amount of the actual cash value of such motor vehicle described in the policy or the
minimum amount of property damage liability insurance required by the Motor Vehicle
Safety Responsibility Law, R.S. 32:851 et seq., whichever is less, for the protection of
persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from the owner or
operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of property damage to the motor vehicle
described in the policy arising out of the operation, maintenance, or use of the uninsured
motor vehicle. The coverage provided under this Section shall be subject to a deductible in
an amount of two hundred fifty dollars for any one accident. The coverage provided under
this Section shall not provide protection for any of the following:
(i) Damage where there is no actual physical contact between the covered motor
vehicle and an uninsured motor vehicle, unless the injured party can show, by an independent
and disinterested witness, that the injury was the result of the actions of the driver of another
vehicle whose identity is unknown or who is uninsured or underinsured.
(ii) Loss of use of a motor vehicle.
(iii) Damages which are paid or payable under any other property insurance.
(e) The uninsured motorist coverage does not apply to bodily injury, sickness, or
disease, including the resulting death of an insured, while occupying a motor vehicle owned
by the insured if the motor vehicle is not described in the policy under which a claim is made
or is not a newly acquired or replacement motor vehicle covered under the terms of the
policy. This provision shall not apply to uninsured motorist coverage provided in a policy
that does not describe specific motor vehicles.
(f) Uninsured motorist coverage shall include coverage for bodily injury arising out
of a motor vehicle accident caused by an automobile which has no physical contact with the
injured party or with a vehicle which the injured party is occupying at the time of the
accident, provided that the injured party bears the burden of proving, by an independent and
disinterested witness, that the injury was the result of the actions of the driver of another
vehicle whose identity is unknown or who is uninsured or underinsured.
(2)(a) For the purpose of this coverage, the terms "uninsured motor vehicle" shall,
subject to the terms and conditions of such coverage, be deemed to include an insured motor
vehicle where the liability insurer thereof is unable to make payment with respect to the legal
liability of its insured within the limits specified therein because of insolvency.
(b) For the purposes of this coverage the term uninsured motor vehicle shall, subject
to the terms and conditions of such coverage, also be deemed to include an insured motor
vehicle when the automobile liability insurance coverage on such vehicle is less than the
amount of damages suffered by an insured and/or the passengers in the insured's vehicle at
the time of an accident, as agreed to by the parties and their insurers or as determined by final
adjudication.
(3) Any party possessing a certificate of self-insurance as provided under the
Louisiana Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Law, shall be an "insurer" within the meaning
of uninsured motorist coverage provided under the provisions of this Section. This provision
shall not be construed to require that a party possessing a certificate of self-insurance provide
uninsured motorist coverage or that such coverage is provided by any party possessing such
a certificate.
(4) In the event of payment to any person under the coverage required by this Section
and subject to the terms and conditions of the coverage, the insurer making the payment
shall, to the extent thereof, be entitled to the proceeds of any settlement or judgment resulting
from the exercise of any rights of recovery of the person against any person or organization
legally responsible for the bodily injury for which the payment is made, including the
proceeds recoverable from the assets of the insolvent insurer.
(5) The coverage required by this Section may include provisions for the submission
of claims by the insured to arbitration. The submission to arbitration shall be optional with
the insured, shall not deprive the insured of his right to bring action against the insurer to
recover any sums due to him under the terms of the policy, and shall not purport to deprive
the courts of this state of jurisdiction of actions against the insurer pursuant to R.S. 22:868.
(6) In any action to enforce a claim under the uninsured motorist provisions of an
automobile liability policy the following shall be admissible as prima facie proof that the
owner and operator of the vehicle involved did not have automobile liability insurance in
effect on the date of the accident in question:
(a) The introduction of sworn notarized affidavits from the owner and the operator
of the alleged uninsured vehicle attesting to their current addresses and declaring that they
did not have automobile liability insurance in effect covering the vehicle in question on the
date of the accident in question. When the owner and the operator of the vehicle in question
are the same person, this fact shall be attested to in a single affidavit.
(b) A sworn notarized affidavit by an official of the Department of Public Safety and
Corrections to the effect that inquiry has been made pursuant to R.S. 32:871 by depositing
the inquiry with the United States mail, postage prepaid, to the address of the owner and
operator as shown on the accident report, and that neither the owner nor the operator has
responded within thirty days of the inquiry, or that the owner or operator, or both, have
responded negatively as to the required security, or a sworn notarized affidavit by an official
of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections that said department has not or cannot
make an inquiry regarding insurance. This affidavit shall be served by certified mail upon
all parties fifteen days prior to introduction into evidence.
(c) Any admissible evidence showing that the owner and operator of the alleged
uninsured vehicle was a nonresident or not a citizen of Louisiana on the date of the accident
in question, or that the residency and citizenship of the owner or operator of the alleged
uninsured vehicle is unknown, together with a sworn notarized affidavit by an official of the
Department of Public Safety and Corrections to the effect that on the date of the accident in
question, neither the owner nor the operator had in effect a policy of automobile liability
insurance.
(d) The effect of the prima facie evidence referred to in Subparagraphs (a), (b), and
(c) of this Paragraph is to shift the burden of proof from the party or parties alleging the
uninsured status of the vehicle in question to their uninsured motorist insurer.
(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Section, for commercial
automobile insurance policies, the insured shall have the option of selecting uninsured
motorist coverage on a form promulgated by the commissioner. If there is no selection of
uninsured motorist coverage on the form provided to the insured and no payment of premium
that includes this coverage, then it shall be presumed that no uninsured motorist coverage
was selected for that policy or contract, and the provisions of this Section shall not apply.