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New York Auto Insurance Liability Coverages

Mandatory New York Liability Coverages

 

Bodily Injury
If the policyholder or another driver covered by the New York policy is found to be at fault in an accident resulting in injuries or fatalities, the following is covered under bodily injury coverage:

  • Medical expenses
  • Lost wages
  • Pain and suffering
  • Legal defense if the drivers listed on the policy are involved in a lawsuit resulting from a car accident

Bodily injury coverage pays for damages caused to a third party.

How much protection does this coverage provide?
The dual coverage limits you select in your New York auto insurance quote refer to the maximum amounts that will be paid per person, per incident, respectively.

Property Damage
If you or another covered driver is found to be at fault in an accident, the following is covered under property damage coverage:

  • Damage to another person's property (e.g., fence, car, or home)
  • Legal costs associated with a damage incident

How much protection does this coverage provide?
The coverage limits you set in your New York auto insurance quote refers to the maximum amounts that will be paid per accident.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
Personal injury protection coverage is mandatory in New York. If you are insuring multiple cars, the coverage you select will apply to each car.

PIP covers your reasonable expenses if you or your passengers are injured in an auto accident, regardless of fault. Specifically, this may include:

  • Medical expenses– These may include medical and surgical treatment; dental and optometric treatment; ambulance and nursing services; necessary medications, medical supplies, and prosthetic devices.
  • Accidental death– If a covered individual dies from accident-related injuries, PIP will pay $2,000 to the insured’s designated beneficiary.
  • Essential service expenses– Should you or your passengers need help performing household or other tasks due to accident-related injuries, PIP also helps pay for such substitute services. Payments are limited to $25 per person, per day for up to one year.

PIP covers policyholders, resident relatives of the policyholder and authorized drivers and passengers in the insured vehicle who are residents of New York state.

No-fault benefits will be reduced by other benefits that are payable under Workers' Compensation, Social Security Disability, New York State Disability, and certain employee "wage continuation" or "work loss coordination" plans where an employee does not lose any future sick leave benefits. If you need additional information, please call us at 1-800-ESURANCE (1-800-378-8689).

How much protection does this coverage provide?
Payment is limited to $50,000 per person, per accident. If you select optional coverages with additional PIP, Optional Basic Economic Loss, the limit will increase.

When you purchase PIP coverage, you will need to select a deductible. You are responsible for paying the deductible amount in the event of an auto insurance claim.


Optional New York Auto Insurance Coverage

 

Medical Payments
Medical payments is an optional coverage in New York that pays for medical and dental treatment, hospitalization, professional nursing services, prostheses, and funeral expenses if a covered driver and/or accompanying passengers are injured while in an insured vehicle, regardless of who is at fault in the accident.

Medical payments may also cover policyholders and their family members when they are injured while riding in someone else's car or if a car hits them while on foot or bicycling.

If you and your regular passengers already have health insurance that covers similar expenses, medical payments coverage may be unnecessary. Check your New York health insurance policy for details.

The auto insurance coverage limit refers to the maximum amount that will be paid per person, per accident.

Additional Personal Injury Protection (APIP)
APIP coverage is optional in New York state, and supplemental to your PIP coverage. If you're insuring multiple cars, the coverage you select will apply to each car.

What's covered?
You can select one of two APIP options:

  • Out-of-State: This extends your state-required PIP coverage to guest occupants (described below in the "Who's covered?" section).
  • Full APIP: This includes the coverage offered under the Out-of-State option, and increases your PIP coverage to a limit of $100,000.

Who's covered?
Selecting APIP extends your PIP coverage to include the following guest occupants:

  • Passengers who reside outside of New York state.
  • Passengers who are residents of New York state, and are involved in an accident in the U.S. or Canada while occupying a vehicle driven by the named insured, or any resident relative.

Optional New York Liability Coverages

Optional Basic Economic Loss
If you select this coverage and you have multiple cars, the coverage you select will apply to each car. This coverage extends your state-required PIP coverages by adding an additional $25,000 to the PIP or APIP limit you have selected for your New York auto insurance policy.

Supplemental Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury Liability
Supplemental uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage is optional in New York. The limits for this coverage cannot exceed the limits you select for your bodily injury coverage. Also, if you have multiple vehicles, the same limits are applied to all vehicles.

If you’re injured in an accident caused by a driver who has no insurance or insufficient coverage, supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage covers the following expenses:

  • Medical
  • Lost wages
  • Other general damages
  • Injuries sustained in hit-and-run accidents

Supplemental Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury Liability provides protection to policyholders, other drivers covered by the policy and any passengers.

How much protection does this coverage provide?
If the other driver involved in an accident is uninsured, this coverage pays up to the limits you purchase. If they’re underinsured, this coverage typically pays any difference between what the other driver’s insurance covers and the bodily injury limits you purchase.

The dual coverage limits you see in your quote refer to the maximum amount that will be paid per person, per incident, respectively. If the limits you purchase are lower than an accident’s costs, you’ll be responsible for paying the amounts over your limits, unless you’re covered by health insurance.

Who might benefit from buying uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage?
Individuals without health insurance may benefit from this coverage, which provides coverage to you if you’re injured in an accident caused by a driver who has no insurance or insufficient insurance.

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