08 Jun IS NEW YORK A NO-FAULT STATE?
Posted By Gruenberg Kelly Della || 8-Jun-2020
State negligence laws either follow “no-fault” or “at-fault/fault-based” principles. These principles govern whether liability is considered in personal injury cases. In cases of car accidents, injury victims either must file a claim with their own insurance company (in no-fault states) or must file a claim with the liable party’s insurance company (in fault-based states).
New York is a no-fault state. Therefore, car accident victims do not need to rely on a liability-based system to recover compensation for the damages they have sustained. However, this does not mean that recovering compensation is always simple. There are several factors that car accident claimants must consider when pursuing compensation for their damages.
What is a No-Fault State?
A no-fault state is a state where victims of negligence do not need to identify a liable party and file a claim against them to recover compensation. Instead, injury victims can usually file a claim with their own insurance company and receive compensation through their provider. Although taking legal action against a defendant is often not necessary in no-fault states, car accident victims may have a legal claim against their insurance company if they are not provided with proper compensation for their damages.
Negligence Laws in New York
Establishing liability is not necessary for recovering compensation after a car accident in New York, but the fault of an injury victim can be considered when their amount of compensation is determined. New York has contributory negligence laws in place, which state that the compensation of a car accident victim can be reduced if they were partially at-fault for their own injuries. Every party that is involved in a car accident will be assigned a percentage of fault according to their actions leading up to the collision, and their compensation can be reduced according to that percentage. For example, if a negligent driver who sustained $10,000 in damages is determined to be 20% at fault for a car accident, their allotted compensation would be reduced by that percentage and they would be able to recover $8,000 in compensation. Injury victims in New York are able to recover compensation for car accident damages regardless of their level of fault.
The attorneys of Gruenberg Kelly Della are available to discuss the details of your car accident case. Contact us today for assistance with your claim.
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