It is not uncommon that when someone is injured in an automobile accident, the defendant’s car will have a very small insurance policy. New York only requires for not professional drivers, such as cabs, but for everyday, personal use vehicles, only $25,000 in coverage. This is actually a higher amount of coverage than other states have, but it is still not enough many times. If you are injured in an accident, and your injuries are much more severe than that, you are very limited in what you’re able to recover from the other insurance company. The other insurance company is not going to pay more than the insurance coverage. You can try to pursue the other driver or the owner of the car for personal assets, but in all likelihood, given the size of the policy, you will be unsuccessful in recovering anything on top of that from the person themselves.
There is another avenue for you, which is uninsured/underinsured coverage, which is mandatory in New York, which is on your policy. If your coverages are of the right amount – they have to be greater than the amount that the other driver has for his liability policy – you can make a claim against your own insurance company for your injuries. We still need to prove the other driver was negligent, and we have to prove that your injuries are serious physical injuries defined by the insurance law. If we meet that, then we are usually able to recover some additional insurance proceeds for you.
If you are in need of legal counsel in regards to a personal injury in New York, please contact The Law Offices of Jonathan D. Sands and we would be happy to assist you.