Injury · New York
the short answer
You have three years from the day of the crash to file, and no amount of talking to an insurer extends it. Being partly to blame does not end your claim; it reduces what you collect by your share and nothing more. Your own insurer pays the medical bills first, and there is a threshold to clear before you can sue the other driver for pain and suffering at all.
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
governing statute
N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(5)
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
who pays first
New York is a no-fault state. Your own policy pays the medical bills whoever caused the crash, and you may sue the other driver for pain and suffering only if the injury is a "serious injury" as the Insurance Law defines it — death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, a fracture, permanent loss or limitation of use of a body organ or member, or a disability lasting 90 of the first 180 days. Under that line the claim against them is barred however plainly they were at fault. (N.Y. Ins. Law § 5104)
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
Across the country. 9 of the 51 states written up answer this the same way as New York. Compare every state →
your share of the fault
Your share of the blame costs you that share and never the claim itself. Forty percent at fault means you collect sixty percent of the damages, and a driver mostly to blame still recovers what is left. (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 1411)
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
Across the country. 11 of the 51 states written up answer this the same way as New York. Compare every state →
limit
3 years
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
Across the country. 18 of the 51 states written up answer this the same way as New York. The shortest is 1 year, as in Tennessee; the longest is 6 years, as in Maine. Compare every state →
which court
Small Claims Part of the New York City Civil Court
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
small claims limit
$10,000
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exceptions: In town and village justice courts the limit is $3,000.
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
also
Three years is long for a no-fault state — most give two. The threshold in the row above is the harder of the two hurdles here, and "serious injury" is litigated in New York more than any other phrase in this area of law.
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
your situation
Everything above is the law as it reaches everyone in New York. What it means for you turns on facts only you have. Tell us what happened and we'll ask the same questions a lawyer would — about 90 seconds, free, and anonymous.
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