Legal Question in Insurance Law in New York

Re: Me or My Insurance Company

Your question actually has a two part answer under NY law.

(1) Under NY's No Fault Insurance Law, injured persons in motor vehicle accidents may only bring lawsuits if they suffer "serious injury". There are many cases in which the Courts have attempted to define what the legislature meant by "serious injury" which I will not get into here, but for example, a fracture is a serious injury.

(2) Assuming your passenger suffers serious injury, what he or she would do is sue you. As long as you promptly report the accident, your insurance company will defend you and insure you. However, if your passenger claims damages of $200,000, and you only have $100,000 worth of coverage, you will have $100,000 of exposure. So, to answer your question, yes - they can take legal action against you, and no they are not limited to action against the insurance company if their claim exceeds your coverage.

Re: Me or My Insurance Company

You cause the accident, you get sued. But you must turn the matter over to your carrier or else you jeopardize your coverage.

Good Luck

RRG