New York Car and Motorcycle Insurance Law

Required Minimum Bodily Injury/Death Coverage

• $25,000 per person injured in any one accident and $50,000 because of the death of one person in one accident and $50,000 for two or more persons injured in any one accident and $100,000 for the deaths of two or more persons in one accident.

Required Minimum Property Damage Coverage

• $10,000 for injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident

Required Economic Loss/No-Fault Insurance Coverage.

• This coverage pays for basic economic loss benefits, without regard to fault, up to a maximum of $50,000 per person. The benefits cover medical, rehabilitation, psychiatric, and religious healing expenses, as well as work loss of up to $2,000 per month for no more than three years. This No-Fault statute impairs an injured person’s ability to a sue a negligent driver. In order to sue, the injured person must suffer a “serious injury.” Under the statute, a “serious injury” means death; dismemberment; significant disfigurement; a fracture; loss of a fetus; permanent loss of the use of a bodily organ or member; significant limitation of use of a bodily function or system; or a medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature that prevents the person from performing daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the injury.

Uninsured Motorist (UM) Coverage.

• UM coverage of $25,000 per person injured in any one accident and $50,000 for two or more persons injured in any one accident is required.

Optional Insurance Coverage

• Supplementary UM and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Coverage. A supplemental UM/UIM policy can be purchased up to the bodily injury liability insurance limits on the policy, with a maximum coverage of $250,000 per person injured in any one accident and $500,000 for two or more persons injured in any one accident. A single limit policy of $500,000 can also be purchased.
• Additional Basic Economic Loss Coverage. Insureds have the option to purchase an additional $25,000 of coverage to be used to pay work loss and rehabilitation expenses after the $50,000 required economic loss coverage is exhausted.

Special Rules for Motorcyclists

• The No-Fault statute does not apply to motorcyclists. Therefore, motorcyclists need not comply with the “serious injury” threshold in order to sue a negligent driver for injuries.