In our many years as a car accident lawyer in NYC, we’ve realized that people injured in car accidents are tempted to agree to low compensation payouts because they tend to underestimate or have no idea how much their claim is actually worth. As your car accident lawyers, it is our job to make sure that you receive the maximum compensation you need, and as such, we’ll be using this post to answer an age-old question—how much is the payout for a car accident in New York?
Is There a Limit to Compensation for a Car Accident in New York?
First and foremost, there are no limits on the value you can claim as compensation for your car accident injuries in New York. As a result, we, as a car accident injury lawyer in Manhattan, have seen that compensation can range from around $10,000 to well over $1 million. However, the value of the final payout sum will ultimately depend on a number of factors, such as the severity of the injuries or the process you’ve chosen to claim compensation.
Compensation Under New York No-Fault Insurance
Since car accidents in New York are effectively covered under no-fault insurance, it means that insurance companies are obligated by law to pay for certain expenses involved with the car accident up to a certain point, regardless of the extent of the individual's fault in the accident.
New York law also requires all motorists to have insurance coverage that would appropriately account for the financial responsibilities that come about when registering a motor vehicle and obtaining license plates. According to the New York DMV, such an insurance coverage should include:
These protections must come with a minimum coverage value of at least:
The goal of no-fault insurance is to provide immediate financial relief for people injured in car accidents. It will cover costs such as medical expenses and account for over 80% of lost wages for a certain period of time.
However, it is important to point out that no-fault insurance will not cover damages such as emotional distress. Furthermore, many insurance contracts may exclude individuals from receiving no fault benefits if the accident involved driving under the influence, intentional causing of injuries, or the vehicle being uninsured, among many others.
Compensation Under Lawsuits in New York
If you want to file a lawsuit against the party at-fault for your car accident injuries, you can ask your accident lawyer in New York to file a lawsuit. In New York law, if you want to file a lawsuit for your car accident, you must either show that the basic economic damages you’ve suffered exceed $50,000 or that the injuries you have suffered satisfy New York’s “serious injury” threshold. Injuries such as broken bones, disfigurements, and death will qualify as serious injuries.
Compared to insurance claims, the damages you can claim in lawsuits are not limited to the financial losses you’ve suffered. Therefore, the sum claimed via a lawsuit will reflect a combination of economic, non-economic, and sometimes punitive damages.
The financial losses claimed via both insurance claims and lawsuits will include:
At the same time, the non-economic damages that can be claimed for in lawsuits are:
And other such damages which your car accident lawyer in New York would find appropriate to include in your lawsuit. Furthermore, the court may even award the injured party punitive damages if they find the conduct of the party at-fault of the accident particularly reckless. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish the offender and to serve as a deterrent for similar conduct in the future.
What If You Are Partly Responsible for the Accident?
The good news is that even if you are partly responsible, or share much of the blame for the car accident, you can still claim compensation under no-fault insurance, thanks to New York’s pure comparative negligence law. Under this rule, so long as you are not completely to blame for the accident, you can claim compensation. However, the value of your payout will be reduced by the extent of your fault. For example, if you are deemed 40% responsible for the accident, your compensation will be reduced by 40%. A pedestrian accident lawyer in Manhattan can help you navigate this process and ensure that your rights are protected, even if fault is shared.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, there is no clear-cut answer for the question: how much is the payout for a car accident in New York? It all depends on a multitude of factors and, as such, can range from a few thousand to well over $1 million. If you are looking to claim compensation for your injuries either through an insurance claim or lawsuit, immediately make contact with an experienced car accident lawyer in NYC. A lawyer's help will be crucial in maximizing and claiming the compensation you rightfully deserve.
