Acceptance raises liability to $1 million. Uninsured coverage does not step up with it.
Louisiana uses two liability periods for transportation network company drivers. While the driver is logged on and available, but not on a prearranged ride, primary liability must be at least $50,000 for death and bodily injury per person, $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 for property damage.
A prearranged ride begins when the driver accepts a request through the company’s digital network and ends when the last requesting rider departs the personal vehicle. During that ride, liability must be at least $1,000,000 for death, bodily injury, and property damage. The drive to the pickup is already inside that higher period.
In both periods, the TNC statute requires uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage only "to the extent required by R.S. 22:1295." It does not print a separate UM dollar, and it does not raise UM to $1,000,000 when liability steps up. The governing insurance section is R.S. 45:201.6. Period definitions are in R.S. 45:201.4. Amounts and coverage periods reflect R.S. 45:201.6 and R.S. 45:201.4 as published on legis.la.gov (accessed Oct. 3, 2026).
Louisiana & the South
Liability steps from 50/100/25 to $1,000,000 at acceptance
| App status at impact | What the statute calls it | Liability the statute requires | UM/UIM the statute requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver offline | Outside R.S. 45:201.6 | The TNC statute does not apply. Ordinary compulsory security, if a Louisiana personal policy responds, is 15/30/25. | Whatever that personal policy has under R.S. 22:1295 after any valid rejection, lower-limit selection, or economic-only selection |
| Logged on, available, request not yet accepted | Pre-trip acceptance period. R.S. 45:201.4(5); R.S. 45:201.6(B) | Primary automobile insurance of not less than $50,000 death and bodily injury per person, $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 property damage | Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to the extent required by R.S. 22:1295. Not a stated dollar, and not automatically equal to the liability limit |
| Request accepted, driving to pickup | Prearranged ride has already begun. R.S. 45:201.4(4) | Not less than $1,000,000 for death, bodily injury, and property damage. R.S. 45:201.6(C)(1) | Same incorporation of R.S. 22:1295. No higher UM figure, and no sentence that UM starts only when the passenger enters |
| Passenger in the vehicle until the last requesting rider departs | Still the prearranged ride | The same $1,000,000 requirement, until the last requesting rider departs | Same incorporation of R.S. 22:1295. Not a separate $1 million UM window |
The driver or the company on the driver’s behalf shall maintain primary automobile insurance that meets section 201.6. The obligation may be satisfied by a policy procured by the driver, by the company, or by a combination. There is no PIP mandate in the TNC statute. Louisiana is a tort state, not a no-fault state. R.S. 45:201.6(A)-(C).
The $1 million period starts at acceptance and ends when the last requesting rider departs
Under R.S. 45:201.4(4), a prearranged ride commences when a driver accepts a ride requested through a digital network controlled by a transportation network company, continues while the driver transports a requesting rider, and ends when the last requesting rider departs from the personal vehicle.
The pre-trip acceptance period is any period during which a driver is logged on to the company’s digital network and is available to receive transportation requests but is not engaged in a prearranged ride. R.S. 45:201.4(5).
Acceptance starts the $1,000,000 liability period, including the drive to the pickup. There is no separate lower tier for "heading to pickup" once the request has been accepted. Drop-off is measured by the last requesting rider’s departure, not by a later-of-app-completion test.
$1 million of liability is not $1 million of uninsured-motorist coverage
Both R.S. 45:201.6(B)(2) and (C)(2) require coverage that shall "Include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to the extent required by R.S. 22:1295." They do not say UM/UIM of $1 million, and they do not say "in an amount not less than the bodily-injury limits."
On an ordinary automobile liability policy, R.S. 22:1295(1)(a)(i) requires uninsured-motorist bodily-injury coverage in not less than the policy’s bodily-injury liability limits unless the named insured rejects it, selects lower limits, or selects economic-only coverage on the commissioner’s form.
For a commercial automobile insurance policy, the rule flips. Under R.S. 22:1295(7), enacted by Acts 2024, No. 770, 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, it shall be presumed that no uninsured motorist coverage was selected for that policy, and the rest of section 1295 does not apply. That is the statutory commercial-policy presumption. The certificates don’t show whether the Uber or Lyft policies are commercial automobile policies under that subsection, or whether a form was signed.
A rejection, a lower-limit selection, or an economic-only selection is an opt-out under R.S. 22:1295. So is the commercial-policy presumption when no form selects the coverage and no premium is paid for it. None of those steps raises uninsured-motorist coverage to the $1,000,000 liability floor in R.S. 45:201.6. Can Uber Decline Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Louisiana?
House Bill 702 of the 2026 Regular Session would have required TNC UM/UIM of not less than the bodily-injury limits in both periods. As of October 3, 2026, the official bill page showed it still pending in House Insurance. It is not law. House Bill 702 (2026).
The $1,000,000 liability floor is not a $1,000,000 UM requirement. The statute incorporates R.S. 22:1295 "to the extent required," so uninsured-motorist coverage remains whatever that section requires for the policy in front of the reader.
If the driver’s policy does not provide the required coverage, company insurance starts at the first dollar
If insurance maintained by a driver to fulfill the requirements of section 201.6 has lapsed or does not provide the coverage required by that section, the transportation network company shall provide the coverage required by the section beginning with the first dollar of a claim and shall have the duty to defend such claim. R.S. 45:201.6(F).
Coverage under an automobile insurance policy maintained by a transportation network company shall not be dependent on a personal automobile insurer first denying a claim, nor shall a personal automobile insurer be required to first deny a claim. R.S. 45:201.6(E).
That is an anti-escape clause. Section 201.6 does not adopt a pro rata formula and does not adopt an excess-only formula for the case in which both policies are in force and both meet the floor.
Personal auto insurers that write automobile insurance in this state may exclude any or all listed coverages, including bodily-injury liability, property-damage liability, UM/UIM, medical payments, comprehensive, and collision, while the driver is logged on during the pre-trip acceptance period or is engaged in a prearranged ride. Nothing in that section requires a personal policy to cover that use. R.S. 45:201.7(A).
What Uber’s certificate actually prints
Uber’s current Louisiana-indexed certificate is issued by United Financial Casualty Company, NAIC 11770. The certificate face does not print the word Louisiana. The state label is Uber’s index, not text on the form. Uber Louisiana Certificate of Liability Insurance.
- Waiting policy 06258379. Certificate date March 1, 2026. Policy period March 1, 2026 through March 1, 2027. Liability limits $50,000 / $100,000 / $25,000. The form states that UM/UIM "is not included in any amount."
- Accepted-trip policy 06261364. Certificate date September 1, 2026. Same policy period, March 1, 2026 through March 1, 2027. September 1 is the certificate date, not a new inception. Combined single limit $1,000,000. The same sentence: UM/UIM is not included in any amount.
- Comprehensive and collision appear on policy 06261364 only, at actual cash value, with $2,500 and $2,500 deductibles. The certificate does not print a contingency sentence tying those deductibles to the driver’s own comprehensive and collision.
The Louisiana certificate does not list PIP, MedPay, a waiting-period UM dollar, or an accepted-trip UM dollar.
What Lyft’s certificate actually prints
Lyft’s current Louisiana certificate is issued by State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, NAIC 25143. The face says evidence of insurance for LA. Certificate date October 1, 2026. Policies October 1, 2026 through October 1, 2027. The form does not print period labels for waiting or accepted trip. Lyft Louisiana Certificate of Liability Insurance.
- Policy 3974472-D01-18: $1,000,000 combined single limit.
- Policy 3974471-D01-18: $50,000 / $100,000 bodily injury with $25,000 property damage.
- Policy 3974473-D01-18: no liability dollar is printed on that row. The suffix is D01, not 001. Which Lyft policy responds in which period is not settled on the face of the certificate.
No UM, UIM, PIP, or MedPay figure is printed. Remarks put $2,500 comprehensive and $2,500 collision on policies 3974472 and 3974473 only, at actual cash value or cost of repair, whichever is less.
Uber’s and Lyft’s certificates do not match. Uber prints that UM/UIM is not included on both uses. Lyft does not mention UM. Lyft leaves one policy number without a liability dollar.
Since July 1, 2019, state law governs these companies exclusively
Since July 1, 2019, companies, drivers, and vehicles are governed exclusively by state law under R.S. 48:2205, subject to authorized per-trip fees and the airport and large-event exceptions. A parish or municipality may not impose its own rate, entry, operation, or other insurance requirement.
New Orleans’ 2015 ordinance text used different dollars and inverted period names, including figures that are not the current state floors. That ordinance is not the current requirement. The coverage table follows R.S. 45:201.6, not the 2015 city text.
For claims governed by the article as amended effective January 1, 2026, recovery is barred at 51 percent fault
Fault, for a claim governed by Civil Code article 2323 as amended effective January 1, 2026, is modified comparative. If the negligence of the person suffering injury, death, or loss is equal to or greater than 51 percent, that person shall not recover damages. If it is less than 51 percent, recoverable damages are reduced in proportion. Civil Code art. 2323, as amended by Acts 2025, No. 15.
Ordinary negligence of two or more persons is a joint and divisible obligation, not solidary liability, except a conspiracy to commit an intentional or willful act. Civil Code art. 2324.
Separately, Act No. 16 of 2025 amended the No Pay, No Play statute. The code page for R.S. 32:866 prints $100,000 of bodily injury and $100,000 of property damage as the first-dollar no-recovery figures for an owner or operator who fails to own or maintain compulsory motor vehicle liability security. The enrolled bill has no effective-date section, so its effective date is unclear. Delictual actions arising after July 1, 2024 are subject to a liberative prescription of two years, which runs from the day injury or damage is sustained. Civil Code art. 3493.1, Acts 2024, No. 423.
What proves which period applies
In a claims-coverage investigation, within ten business days of a request, the company and any insurer potentially providing coverage under R.S. 45:201.6 shall cooperate to exchange relevant information, including the precise times that a transportation network company driver logged on and off the digital network in the twelve-hour period immediately preceding and in the twelve-hour period immediately following the accident, and a clear description of the coverage, exclusions, and limits. R.S. 45:201.8.
Useful claim facts matched to Louisiana’s clocks include:
- log on and log off times in the twelve hours before and after the accident;
- the acceptance timestamp, when the $1,000,000 liability period begins;
- the time the last requesting rider departed, when that period ends;
- whether the driver was logged on or on a prearranged ride, disclosed upon request under R.S. 45:201.9;
- trip origin, destination, duration, distance, and fare from the electronic receipt;
- which app, and the policy or certificate in force on the accident date;
- the personal auto policy, any rideshare endorsement or exclusion, and any UM rejection, lower-limit selection, or economic-only form;
- the other vehicle’s insurance; and
- the police report and scene facts that match No Pay, No Play exceptions.
Uber’s two policies are different numbers for different uses. Lyft’s three policy numbers are not labeled by period, and one of them has no liability dollar on the face of the certificate.
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A Louisiana rideshare claim can turn on acceptance and the last rider’s departure
Establish whether the driver was offline, waiting, or already inside a prearranged ride. Match those facts to R.S. 45:201.6 and to what each certificate actually prints, including that UM does not automatically follow the $1,000,000 liability step.