The Louisiana Guide to Property Insurance Claims

Report the loss promptly using the phone number, website, app, agent, or other channel your policy or insurer identifies. Give the basic facts you know, but do not guess about the cause or full amount of damage.

Then make the file easy to prove. Save a copy or screenshot of what you sent, the date and time, delivery or upload confirmation, the claim number, and the name of anyone you spoke with. If you report by phone, follow up in writing with a short recap.

You will probably add information as the claim develops. Photograph the damage before cleanup when it is safe to do so, keep damaged items when practical, save emergency-work and temporary-living receipts, and ask the insurer to put its document requests in writing.

Sources: R.S. 22:1892

Usually, the initial notice is not the same thing as a formal proof-of-loss form. Report the loss through an accepted channel first, then follow the insurer's written instructions for any later form.

Louisiana now has a specific framework for an insurer that chooses to require a proof-of-loss statement as a prerequisite to payment. In that situation, the insurer must use a form consistent with the statutory model and approved by the commissioner. The insurer must provide it within 10 business days after receiving the claim and keep it accessible. That rule does not mean every Louisiana claim requires the form, and it does not make a generic form a safe substitute.

A separate law in the standard-fire-policy part of the code says the insurer supplies a suitable proof form within 30 days after notice and advises the insured of the policy requirement. Because that rule has a narrower setting, do not assume it controls every property claim.

Sources: R.S. 22:1892.3 · R.S. 22:1312

Start with the policy. Find the provisions for notice, proof of loss, supplemental claims, repairs or replacement, and suit against the insurer. These duties do not necessarily share a deadline.

For a loss arising from a declared catastrophic event in the covered declaration area, Louisiana Revised Statutes §22:1264 can affect proof and replacement-cost timing. Its protections depend on conditions such as the declaration, access restrictions, the kind of coverage, and the policy's applicability. It is not a universal 180-day claim-filing rule or a universal one-year repair rule.

Do not use the old Katrina and Rita extensions in §22:1894 as current advice. Those dates were written for those storms and expired in 2007.

If a possible deadline is close or disputed, preserve the policy and communications and get claim-specific advice promptly. A calendar entry called “claim deadline” is too vague to protect you.

Sources: R.S. 22:1264 · R.S. 22:1894 · R.S. 22:868

It depends on what you mean by “act.” Louisiana separates several jobs.

For property damage outside a catastrophic loss, §22:1892 generally calls for the insurer to initiate adjustment within 14 days after notice from the claimant. For catastrophic loss, the general initiation period is 30 days, subject to authorized extensions. Initiating adjustment is not the same as accepting coverage, making an offer, or paying the claim.

For an insured's inquiry or request about a residential or commercial property claim, §22:1896 generally calls for a response within 14 days, unless the commissioner extends the period after a declared disaster or emergency. That response rule is not a 14-day payment or final-decision clock.

Later duties may turn on satisfactory proof, a completed insurer-required form, a settlement agreement, or another specific event. Record each one separately.

Sources: R.S. 22:1892 · R.S. 22:1896

There is one clear Louisiana advance rule, but it is narrow. When a covered peril causes a total loss to an insured dwelling, the insured has additional-living-expense coverage, and the insured asks, §22:1338 calls for an advance equal to the estimated value of three months of increased living costs as the policy defines them. Later ALE payments depend on actual incurred costs and satisfactory proof, and the statute preserves a fraud-related restriction.

That is not three months of guaranteed coverage for every temporary expense, and it is not a general repair advance. Elsewhere, Louisiana law discusses amounts due, portions due, and partial tenders. Those concepts do not by themselves create a universal right to a separate up-front payment.

Ask the adjuster in writing whether the carrier can advance a covered amount, what coverage would fund it, what documentation it needs, and how the payment will appear in the claim accounting.

Sources: R.S. 22:1338

A proof of loss is the policyholder's formal presentation of the loss. Depending on the policy and the path the insurer uses, it may include a signed or sworn form plus documents supporting the cause, damaged property, values, repair costs, prior interests, and amounts claimed.

Two ideas need to stay separate. “Satisfactory proof of loss” is a trigger used in Louisiana's offer and payment statutes. An insurer-required statement under §22:1892.3 is a particular formal path: if the insurer invokes it as a payment prerequisite, the approved form and completeness process matter.

Submitting proof can start a duty. It does not guarantee that the insurer agrees with the cause, scope, coverage, or amount. And this guide does not rely on the old shortcut that access for an adjuster necessarily substitutes for formal proof. Follow the current written request and preserve what you submit.

Ask the insurer or adjuster in writing whether a proof-of-loss statement is required and, if so, request the insurer's approved form and the deadline it says applies.

If the insurer invokes §22:1892.3, it must provide the form within 10 business days after receiving the claim and keep the form accessible. A required form must be consistent with the statute's model and approved by the commissioner. The model allows calculated-to-date amounts and recognizes that supplemental loss may follow; that does not make an estimate final or create an unlimited extension.

The standard-fire rule in §22:1312 has a different 30-day form-supply job. Do not mash the two rules together, and do not assume a blank downloaded from another source satisfies your insurer's requirement.

Sources: R.S. 22:1892.3 · R.S. 22:1312

The insurer will ordinarily assign someone to investigate and adjust the claim. Remember who that person works for. A carrier adjuster may be professional and helpful, but the adjuster's estimate is the carrier's work product in the claim—not the ceiling on the evidence you may submit.

Under §22:1892, an insured can request a copy of the field adjuster's report. The statute gives that request its own timing job. Louisiana's policyholder bill of rights also identifies a first-party insured's ability to request portions of the claim file, subject to limits such as privileged material and certain fraud-investigation material.

Make the requests separately and in writing. Compare any estimate with your photographs, inventory, contractor scope, measurements, and receipts. If something is missing, point to the item instead of simply saying the estimate is too low.

Sources: R.S. 22:1892 · R.S. 22:41

First, find out which proof path applies. If the insurer required a §22:1892.3 form, receipt of the completed form becomes the satisfactory-proof path, and the insurer must notify the insured within 10 business days whether it considers the submission complete or incomplete. If incomplete, ask for each claimed defect in writing and respond with a delivery record.

Second, track the applicable offer or payment duty. Ordinary claims under §22:1892 and catastrophic-loss claims under §22:1892.2 have different scopes, triggers, and periods. Both turn on what is due, not simply what was requested.

Third, keep the file open to real developments. The insurer may request additional information, the policyholder may identify supplemental damage, the parties may dispute coverage or amount, or an appraisal or catastrophe cure process may come into play.

No single “30 days after proof” sentence can safely describe all of that.

Sources: R.S. 22:1892 · R.S. 22:1892.2 · R.S. 22:1892.3

There is no one period for every Louisiana homeowners claim. Under §22:1892, ordinary property claims have adjustment, written-offer, and amount-due payment provisions tied to their own triggers. Section 22:1892.2 has a separate framework for catastrophic-loss claims, including different treatment for residential and other immovable property. Extensions, additional-information requests, supplements, appraisal, and the amount actually due can matter.

A second handoff begins if a lender or mortgage servicer is a payee. For covered one-to-four-unit residential loans, §6:337 addresses endorsement, segregation, release requirements, supported release requests, inspections, identifiable ALE or contents proceeds, remaining balances, and interest. Section 6:338 provides a narrower process for defined excess proceeds. Those are servicer duties, not extensions of the insurer's coverage clock.

Effective August 1, 2026, Act 932 adds another narrow seam when a contractor is named as payee on an instrument for repair or restoration of immovable property. The insurer or adjuster must first check the contractor's license. The act's limited delay protection depends on inability to verify, claim-file documentation, direct and reasonable causation, and written notice to the insured within five business days. It is not a general right to approve your contractor.

Sources: Act 932 of 2026 · R.S. 6:337 · R.S. 6:338 · R.S. 9:5386

For an ordinary loss, start with the declarations, deductible endorsement, and cause-of-loss language in your policy. Louisiana does not set one statewide deductible amount for every homeowners claim.

Section 22:1337 has a special annual mechanic for defined owner-occupied policies and covered named-storm or hurricane deductibles. If its conditions fit, a later qualifying event in the same calendar year can involve only the remaining separate deductible or the all-other-perils deductible under the statutory formula. That is more precise than saying “you pay one storm deductible a year,” which can be wrong when the policy, event, or remaining amount differs.

Louisiana also requires a notice in certain $1,000-or-more contracts for goods or services expected to be paid from property-claim proceeds. The notice says the insured must pay any applicable deductible and the seller may not knowingly help the insured avoid it. A promise to “waive” the deductible is a reason to slow down and read the contract.

Sources: R.S. 22:1337 · R.S. 51:452

Read the replacement-cost provisions first. Many policies pay actual cash value initially and make some depreciation recoverable only after repair or replacement and timely proof. Louisiana law does not create one repair period for every loss.

Section 22:1892 requires notice when depreciation may be withheld, a written calculation when it is applied, and a reasonable assessment based on objective criteria and the property's pre-loss condition. Its replacement-cost holdback provision also ties recovery to reasonable proof that the policyholder paid the applicable deductible.

For a qualifying declared-catastrophe loss with replacement-cost coverage, §22:1264 supplies a separate repair-period framework tied to the loss date or applicable proceeds and to repaired covered damage. Its declaration, location, access, policy, and applicability conditions matter.

Mortgage-servicer inspections and releases may create another practical delay. Send a supported request, ask for the exact release conditions, and keep proof of repairs and payments in the form the servicer accepts.

Sources: R.S. 22:1264 · R.S. 51:452

A missed date is the beginning of the analysis, not an automatic penalty. Identify the exact duty, actor, trigger, property or policy scope, amount due, extension, exception, and law in effect. Then preserve the proof.

Louisiana separates ordinary claim duties and remedies in §22:1892 from catastrophic-loss duties, cure procedures, and remedies in §22:1892.2. Administrative enforcement, contractual recovery, statutory penalties, attorney fees, economic damages, appraisal, and an agency complaint are different lanes. Former §22:1973 was repealed effective July 1, 2024, so old articles quoting it cannot simply swap in a new section number.

You can file a complaint with the Louisiana Department of Insurance to create an official record and request regulatory review. LDI does not become your lawyer, decide every coverage dispute, or preserve a lawsuit. A mortgage-servicer release problem may instead involve the Office of Financial Institutions.

Do not wait on a complaint if a policy or court deadline may be running. Louisiana has separate two-year periods for certain penalty-and-fee claims and a statutory floor that prevents listed first-party policies from imposing a contractual action limit shorter than 24 months after inception of loss. Those are not one universal deadline, and this guide cannot calculate yours.

Sources: file a complaint with the Louisiana Department of Insurance · R.S. 22:868

Yes, subject to Louisiana's licensing and contract rules. A property policy generally may not prohibit the insured from hiring a public adjuster for services authorized under Title 22, although §22:1274 has a commercial surplus-lines exception.

That does not mean you always need one. Before signing, verify the license through LDI, check references, understand exactly what work is included, and read the fee and cancellation terms. Louisiana currently bars a public-adjuster fee that is contingent on or calculated as a percentage of claim payments. The contract must be written and include required disclosures, and the statute provides a three-business-day rescission period and return duties.

The insurer may still communicate directly with you. A license answers whether someone may operate in the role; it does not answer whether that person is experienced, suitable for your claim, conflict-free, or worth the fee.

Sources: verify the license through LDI · Act 328 of 2023 / §22:1274 · R.S. 22:1703 · §1704 · §1706