For most injury claims in Louisiana, two years from the date of the accident, if the injury happened on or after July 1, 2024. Miss it and the claim is gone, however strong it was. That is the short answer. The rest of this page is the part that catches people out.
Two years is the general rule, not the only rule
Louisiana calls this deadline prescription rather than a statute of limitations, and the period depends on the kind of claim you have. A car wreck, a fall, a defective product and a workplace injury do not all run on the same clock.
The one that surprises people most often: a workers compensation claim and a claim against the person who hurt you are two different cases with two different deadlines. If you were hurt on the job by someone else’s negligence, you may have both, and letting one lapse does not protect the other.
The clock starts at the accident, not at the phone call
It does not start when you finish treatment. It does not start when the insurer denies you. It does not start when you decide to do something about it. For most claims it starts on the day you were hurt, which means every week spent waiting to see whether the insurance company will be reasonable is a week off the end.
That matters more than it sounds. Two years feels like plenty until you subtract several months of treatment, a few months of back and forth with an adjuster, and the time it takes to gather records. Firms turn away good cases every year because someone called with three weeks left and there was no way to investigate properly.
Things that change the deadline
This is general information and not advice about your situation, because the exceptions are exactly where the detail matters:
- Claims against a government body, a parish, a city, the state, or a public entity, can carry their own notice requirements and shorter windows.
- Injured children are treated differently, and the clock may not run the same way.
- Wrongful death and survival claims run from the death, not from the incident, and they are separate claims.
- Medical malpractice follows its own regime entirely, including a review panel.
- Claims against a vessel or under maritime law can run on a different and often longer clock.
If any of those sound like your situation, the deadline question is not one to answer from a web page.
What if my accident was before July 1, 2024?
Louisiana’s change to two years was not retroactive. Injuries before that date ran on the older, shorter period, which means almost all of them have already prescribed. If your accident is from that era and nobody has filed anything, get it looked at immediately rather than assuming either way.
What actually protects you
Filing suit stops the clock. Talking to an adjuster does not. Being mid-treatment does not. A friendly email saying your claim is under review does not. Insurers are not required to warn you that your time is running out, and a claim that prescribes is a claim they never have to pay.
Not sure which deadline applies to you?
Tell us the date and what happened and we will tell you where you stand, free. We handle car accident, truck accident and injury claims across Acadiana.
Call (337) 347-7177. No fee unless we win.
