In New York, drivers are required to carry liability insurance, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, and personal injury protection. The minimum required limits are:
· $25,000 Bodily Injury (BI) Liability Per Person
· $50,000 Bodily Injury (BI) Liability Per Accident
· $10,000 Property Damage (PD) Liability Per Accident
· $25,000 Uninsured/Underinsured (UM/UIM) Bodily Injury Per Person
· $50,000 Uninsured/Underinsured (UM/UIM) Bodily Injury Per Accident
· $50,000 Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
Compared to some other states, this is quite a long list of required coverages. One reason for this is because New York is a “no-fault” state, which basically means that if you are injured in an accident, your own insurance provider will pay your medical expenses, no matter who is at fault. That is why New York requires all drivers to carry personal injury protection, or PIP. PIP covers you and your passengers for medical expenses after an accident. This coverage applies regardless of who is at fault. Since every driver is required to carry it, there is less reason for insurance companies to battle in court over who caused the accident. Each insurance company just covers their own policyholder. In New York, drivers can also purchase Additional Personal Injury Protection(APIP), as well as, Optional Basic Economic Loss Coverage(OBEL), which is an extension of PIP that can be used to cover medical expenses and lost wages.
Uninsured/underinsured coverage for bodily injury is also required in New York. This coverage provides protection for you and your passengers, if the at-fault party in an accident either doesn’t have insurance, (uninsured)or if they do not carry enough liability insurance (underinsured).
When it comes to determining how much liability coverage you should purchase, for most cases, the appropriate answer is some amount greater than the state minimum requirements. If you request quick insurance quotes from us (without connecting your prior insurance), in most cases the minimum liability limits we recommend are $50,000 Bodily Injury (BI) per person, $100,000 BI per accident, and $50,000 Property Damage (PD) per accident. You may see these limits expressed on your insurance policy documents as 50/100/50. If you want great coverage however, we recommend increasing these limits to $250,000 BI per person, $500,000 BI per accident and $250,000 PD per accident (250/500/250). To learn more about liability limits, check out our blog on the importance of having sufficient liability limits.
If you are looking to expand your coverage, or you’re shopping for the best car insurance comparison rates for the first time, simply fill out our intuitive application and let us do the work for you. If you already have insurance and think you might be paying too much, just connect your current policy documents, and we’ll shop for the best 12-month car insurance quote. We’ll return quotes that you can actually buy, along with a side-by-side comparison of your current policy.
Happy insurance shopping, New Yorkers!
