What is a car accident claim worth in New York?
Every rule below is quoted from New York law or a state agency, with a link. Checked September 17, 2026.
The short answer
Nobody can price your claim from a web page, and any site that gives you one number is guessing. What we can show you is real: the amount insurers actually paid per claim in New York, and the New York rules that raise or lower what you collect. $43,180 was the average injury claim paid in New York in 2022.
Six questions, no sign up
Nothing you pick is sent anywhere or saved. The answer appears on this page.
Averages come from NAIC 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report. State rules are quoted from New York law on this site, each with a link.
What claims paid in New York
Injury claims in New York averaged $43,180 each in 2022.
Car and property damage claims averaged $6,989.
| Injury claim paid by the at fault driver's insurance | $43,180 |
|---|---|
| Car and property damage | $6,989 |
| Personal injury protection, paid by your own policy | $21,836 |
| Medical payments coverage, paid by your own policy | $10,487 |
| Collision coverage, paid by your own policy | $7,656 |
These are averages of every claim insurers closed, from the largest to the smallest. A claim with a hospital stay sits far above the average, and a fender bender sits far below it.
What changes the number in New York
If you were partly at fault
New York uses pure comparative fault. You can recover money even if you were mostly at fault, but your award is reduced by your own percentage of fault.
“the culpable conduct attributable to the claimant or to the decedent...shall not bar recovery. The amount of damages otherwise recoverable shall be diminished in the proportion which the culpable conduct attributable to the claimant or decedent bears to the culpable conduct which caused the damages.”
The other driver's policy limit is the ceiling
New York drivers must carry at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, or 50000 and $100,000 if someone dies, plus $10,000 for property damage.
“twenty-five thousand dollars because of bodily injuries to and fifty thousand dollars because of death of one person in any one accident and, subject to said limit for one person, to a limit of fifty thousand dollars because of bodily injury to and one hundred thousand dollars because of death of two or more persons in any one accident”
If the other driver has no insurance
Uninsured motorist coverage is required automatically on every New York liability policy, generally at the same dollar limits as the state's minimum bodily injury liability coverage.
“No policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury or death... shall be issued or delivered by any authorized insurer upon any motor vehicle... unless it contains a provision whereby the insurer agrees that it will pay to the insured... all sums, not exceeding a maximum amount or limit of twenty-five thousand dollars”
The deadline that ends the claim
You have 3 years from the crash to file a lawsuit for your injuries.
“an action to recover damages for a personal injury”
What a lawyer takes if you hire one
New York regulates, but does not flatly ban, high contingency fees. For most personal injury and negligence cases, court rules say a fee up to one third of the recovery, or a rising sliding scale, is presumed fair. For medical, dental, and podiatric malpractice cases specifically, a state law sets a stricter sliding scale that starts at 30 percent and drops as the recovery gets bigger.
“Schedule B: A percentage not exceeding 33 1/3 percent of the sum recovered. ... 30 percent of the first $250,000 of the sum recovered; 25 percent of the next $250,000 of the sum recovered; 20 percent of the next $500,000 of the sum recovered; 15 percent of the next $250,000 of the sum recovered; 10 percent of any amount over $1,250,000 of the sum recovered.”
Sources on this page
Each one was opened and checked on September 17, 2026.
Know My Claim is not a law firm or a government agency, and this page is not legal advice. Laws change, so check the linked source before you rely on a deadline.