Being a no-fault insurance state, New York law allows people injured in car accidents to claim compensation from insurers, irrespective of fault. As a car accident lawyer in NYC, we often find clients wanting to file lawsuits against those responsible for their injuries. However, not everyone would be able to successfully file a lawsuit, and much of it has to do with New York’s serious injury threshold. In this post, we’ll be explaining what exactly the serious injury threshold is and how it will undoubtedly impact car accident claims.
Limitations on Lawsuits in New York
In New York, if you or your loved one is injured in a car accident, your insurance company is obligated to cover costs such as medical expenses and lost wages up to a certain extent under New York’s no-fault insurance. Therefore, so long as your insurance covers the losses you’ve suffered from the accident, you are prohibited from filing any lawsuit.
Since insurance coverages only account for damages that have a set financial value (economic damages), you are prevented from claiming damages for the injuries you have suffered that do not have a set financial value. Such non-economic damages can include:
- Pain & suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
As such, if you are insistent on filing a lawsuit for your car accident injuries, you will need to either prove that the basic economic damages you’ve suffered in the accident exceed $50,000 or that the injuries you’ve sustained are enough to satisfy New York law’s “serious injury threshold.” The concept of a serious injury threshold is enshrined in Article 51 of New York State Insurance Law. Section 5104(a) states that:
“Notwithstanding any other law, in any action by or on behalf of a covered person against another covered person for personal injuries arising out of negligence in the use or operation of a motor vehicle in this state, there shall be no right or recovery for non-economic loss, except in the case of serious injury, or for basic economic loss.”
Therefore, it is advisable for you to get in touch with an experienced car accident injury lawyer in Manhattan who can go through your case and determine whether your accident can form the basis of a potential lawsuit.
What is the Serious Injury Threshold?
When we advise our clients on their rights and liabilities involved with a car accident as an accident lawyer in New York, we make it a point to explain to them the concept of the serious injury threshold and point out what sort of injuries may pass said threshold.
The term “serious injury” is defined in Section 5102 (d) of the New York State Insurance Law, and according to the section, a person is deemed to have suffered a ‘serious injury’ if the car accident resulted in one or more of the following injuries:
- Death;
- Dismemberment;
- Significant Disfigurement;
- Fracture;
- Loss of fetus;
- Permanent loss of the use of a body organ, member, function, or system;
- Significant limitation on the use of a bodily function or system; or
- A medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature that prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts that constitute such a person’s usual or customary daily activities for no less than ninety days during the one hundred eighty days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment (the “90/180 category”).
In simple terms, to show a serious injury under the “90/180 category,” the injured party must show, with the help of medical evidence, that the injury prevented them from performing their normal daily activities for at least 90 days out of the first 180 days after the accident.
How Can I Prove the Serious Injury Threshold?
As car accident lawyers in New York, we always say that a case is only as good as the evidence it is presented with. Proving that the car accident caused a “serious injury” is crucial if you want to overcome the restrictions imposed by New York’s no-fault insurance law. Therefore, when it comes to proving serious injury, you must:
- Obtain the relevant medical records and obtain expert testimony from doctors. The doctors can attest to the consequences of the injuries you have sustained.
- If you’re planning on bringing a case under the 90/180 category, make sure to document your daily tasks following the injury. This recollection can be used to show a contrast between the situations before and after the accident.
- Acquire additional evidence in the form of eyewitness reports and testimonies from friends, family, colleagues, and employers to support the documentary evidence.
Furthermore, it will be crucial for you to contact an experienced Brooklyn car accident attorney to seek their legal advice. We can gather the evidence, build your case, negotiate with insurers, and represent you in court. All you have to do is focus on your recovery.
Conclusion
In New York, car accident compensation is mainly handled under the state’s no-fault insurance law. However, there are instances when the insurance settlement is not enough to cover all the costs, compelling those injured to file lawsuits. However, for an injured party to successfully file a lawsuit, it must be shown that their injuries satisfy New York’s “serious injury threshold.” To know if your accident would allow you to file a lawsuit, contact a car accident lawyer in NYC, schedule a consultation, and seek their legal advice.