What to Do After a Car Accident That Wasn’t Your Fault in New York

Most people think a not-at-fault crash is simple. The other driver caused it, so their insurance pays, right? In New York, that’s not how it starts. State law makes you file with your own insurance company first, no matter who hit you. Get that part wrong, and you can lose money you’re owed before the other driver’s insurer ever picks up the phone.

Quick answer: After a car accident that wasn’t your fault in New York, get checked by a doctor, call the police and get a crash report, take photos, exchange information, and file a no-fault claim (Form NF-2) with your own insurer within 30 days. Don’t give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company. And talk to a lawyer before you accept any settlement offer.

That last point matters more than it used to. A crash that “wasn’t your fault” can still get pinned on you if you say the wrong thing early, and a 2026 change to New York law (more on that below) made your share of fault more important than ever. If you’re unsure about any step, it’s worth speaking with a car accident attorney in White Plains before the insurance companies start building their version of events.

To put the risk in plain numbers: in 2024, about 39,254 people died and 2.42 million were injured in U.S. traffic crashes, out of roughly 6.18 million police-reported crashes, according to NHTSA’s final 2024 data. In New York, the state Department of Health reports that about three people die every day in a traffic-related crash. A “minor” wreck can turn into a serious claim fast.

The First Steps to Take Right After a Not-at-Fault Crash

The choices you make in the first hour shape your whole claim. Here’s what to do, in order:

• Check for injuries and call 911. Even if you feel fine, get medical attention. Some injuries (like whiplash or a concussion) show up hours or days later, and a gap in treatment gives insurers a reason to doubt you.
• Get a police report. It creates an official record of what happened and who was involved. This becomes a key document later.
• Take photos and videos. Capture all vehicles, the damage, the road, traffic signs, skid marks, and any visible injuries. More is better.
• Exchange information. Names, license plates, driver’s license numbers, and insurance details for every driver.
• Get witness names and numbers. A neutral witness can settle a “he said, she said” fight over fault.
• Don’t admit fault or apologize. A simple “I’m sorry” can be twisted into an admission later.

Write down what you remember as soon as you can. Memory fades, and small details (the light was green, the other car was speeding) often decide who pays.

Why You File With Your Own Insurance First in New York

This is the part that surprises people. New York is a no-fault state under Insurance Law § 5104. After a crash, your own auto policy pays your first medical bills and a portion of your lost wages, no matter who caused it. This coverage is called Personal Injury Protection (PIP).

Here’s what standard PIP generally covers, per the New York Department of Financial Services:

• Up to $50,000 per person for medical care and related economic losses
• 80% of lost earnings, up to $2,000 per month, for up to three years
• Up to $25 per day for up to a year in other reasonable expenses
• A $2,000 death benefit

The catch is the deadline, and it sits on you, not the other driver. You must file your no-fault application (Form NF-2) with your insurer within 30 days of the crash. Under 11 NYCRR § 65-1.1, miss that window without a valid excuse, and your insurer can deny the claim outright.

So even in a clear not-at-fault crash, your own PIP is the first source of medical and wage payment. Suing the other driver for pain and suffering is a separate step that comes later, and only in certain cases.

	No-Fault / PIP (Your Own Insurer)	Liability Claim (At-Fault Driver)
Who pays	Your own auto policy	The other driver’s insurer
Does fault matter?	No, pays regardless of fault	Yes, fault is central
What it covers	Medical bills, 80% of lost wages up to $2,000/month (up to 3 years), up to $50,000 per person	Pain and suffering and other damages
How you access it	File Form NF-2 within 30 days	Must meet the “serious injury threshold”

The Deadlines That Protect Your Claim: The 30-10-3 Rule

New York has several deadlines after a crash, and missing one can quietly kill a strong case. An easy way to remember the three big ones:

• 30 days to file your no-fault application (Form NF-2)
• 10 days to file your DMV crash report (Form MV-104), when there’s injury or property damage over $1,000
• 3 years to file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver (CPLR § 214)

Here’s the fuller picture:

Deadline	What It Is	Time Limit	If You Miss It
No-fault application (Form NF-2)	Start your PIP medical and wage benefits with your own insurer	30 days from the crash	Insurer can deny benefits without a valid excuse
DMV crash report (Form MV-104)	Filed with NY DMV for injury or property damage over $1,000	10 days from the crash	Risk of driver’s license suspension
Medical bill submission	Bills sent to the no-fault insurer	45 days from treatment	Bills may go unpaid
Lost-wage claim	Wage-loss notice to the no-fault insurer	90 days from when disability began	Wage benefits may be denied
Lawsuit vs. the at-fault driver	Personal injury claim in court (CPLR § 214)	3 years from the crash	You lose the right to sue
Crash with a government vehicle	MTA bus, city vehicle, and similar	90 days for a Notice of Claim; lawsuit within 1 year and 90 days	You can lose the right to sue the agency
Wrongful death	Claim after a fatal crash (EPTL § 5-4.1)	2 years from the date of death	Family loses the right to sue

One trap to watch: crashes involving a city vehicle or MTA bus have a much shorter 90-day Notice of Claim window. People miss it all the time because it feels like a normal car accident. It isn’t.

Not sure which deadlines apply to your situation? The Law Offices of Norman Gershon can review your crash and map out every clock that’s already running. It’s free to ask, and the call could save your case.

What Changed in 2026, and Why It Matters When the Crash Wasn’t Your Fault

This is the freshest and most important update, and many older guides haven’t caught up to it.

In late May 2026, New York enacted a new auto liability law (Bill A10008) that changed how fault affects your recovery in car accident cases specifically. For decades, New York followed pure comparative negligence, which meant you could recover something even if you were mostly at fault, with your award simply reduced by your fault percentage.

That’s no longer true for car crashes. Under the new rule:

• If you’re found more than 50% at fault, you generally recover nothing from the other driver.
• If you’re 50% or less at fault, you can still recover, but your award is reduced by your fault percentage.

The exact statutory language is a bit more layered. It bars recovery when your share of fault is greater than the other driver’s, or greater than the combined fault of all the other drivers. In a simple two-car crash, that works out to the “more than 50%” line. In multi-vehicle pileups, the math gets more complicated, which is one reason these cases now turn so heavily on the facts.

A few more things this law did:

• It removed the “90/180-day” serious injury category, so there are now eight qualifying categories instead of nine (we’ll cover these next).
• It added a narrow $100,000 cap on pain-and-suffering for a small group of at-fault bad actors, such as someone driving uninsured when they were supposed to be insured, or someone driving while impaired and later convicted.

Two important notes. First, the new rule applies to cases commenced on or after the law’s effective date. If your accident happened earlier, the older pure comparative negligence rule may still apply, so the law that governs your case depends on your accident date. Second, because fault percentage now decides whether you recover at all, the insurer has a strong incentive to push your share of blame past that line.

That makes it worth understanding how New York decides who is at fault before you say anything to an adjuster. Even a clear not-your-fault crash can be reframed if you hand them the material to do it.

The Serious Injury Threshold: When You Can Sue the At-Fault Driver

No-fault speeds up your medical payments, but it also limits your right to sue. To step outside no-fault and pursue pain and suffering from the at-fault driver, your injury has to meet New York’s “serious injury threshold” under Insurance Law § 5102(d).

After the 2026 change, the qualifying categories are:

• Death
• Dismemberment
• Significant disfigurement
• A fracture
• Loss of a fetus
• Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system
• Permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member
• Significant limitation of use of a body function or system

If your injury fits one of these, you may have a case against the other driver beyond your PIP benefits. Whether a specific injury qualifies often comes down to medical records and expert opinion, which is where having a lawyer review your file early pays off.

What Not to Say to the Insurance Company After a Crash

You’ll likely get a call from the other driver’s insurer within days. They may sound friendly and ask for a recorded statement. Here’s the part many people don’t know:

You are generally not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company. There’s no law forcing it, and a recorded statement rarely helps your side. It often hurts it.

The reason is simple. The insurer compares what you say on tape to the police report and witness accounts. Anything that doesn’t line up perfectly, even an honest mistake about speed or timing, gets used to cast doubt on your claim or to bump up your share of fault. Under the new fault rule, that can be the difference between recovering and recovering nothing.

A safe approach: be polite, confirm basic facts (date, location), and tell them you’ll follow up after speaking with your attorney. You can also let your lawyer handle the call entirely.

Should You Accept the Insurance Company’s First Offer?

Usually not, and here’s why. The first offer tends to land before you know the full cost of your injuries. Some injuries need months of treatment, and a check that feels generous today may not cover a surgery or therapy you need next year. Once you sign a release, that money is final.

New York claims also tend to run high. The Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) has reported that New York has among the highest auto injury claim costs in the country. That doesn’t mean your case is worth a specific number. Every claim is different, and anyone who quotes you a settlement figure sight unseen is guessing. What it does mean is that an early lowball offer often leaves real money on the table.

We won’t put a price on your case in a blog post, because an honest valuation depends on your medical records, your lost income, and the facts of the crash. Before you accept anything, get the offer reviewed. The Law Offices of Norman Gershon will tell you straight whether an offer is fair or far short.

Frequently Asked Questions

If the accident wasn’t my fault, why do I file with my own insurance in New York? Because New York is a no-fault state. State law requires your own PIP coverage to pay your first medical bills and part of your lost wages, regardless of who caused the crash. You file Form NF-2 with your own insurer within 30 days.

Who pays my medical bills if the accident wasn’t my fault in New York? Your own no-fault (PIP) coverage pays first, up to $50,000 per person, no matter who was at fault. A separate claim against the other driver may cover pain and suffering if your injury meets the serious injury threshold.

Do I have to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company? No. There’s no law requiring it, and it rarely helps you. You can decline politely and let your attorney handle communications.

Can I still get money if the accident was partly my fault in New York? For car crashes under the 2026 law, if you’re 50% or less at fault, yes, with your award reduced by your fault percentage. If you’re found more than 50% at fault, you generally recover nothing from the other driver. Accidents before the law’s effective date may follow the older rule.

How long do I have to sue after a car accident in New York? Generally three years from the crash under CPLR § 214. Claims against a government vehicle have much shorter deadlines, including a 90-day Notice of Claim. Wrongful death claims have a two-year limit from the date of death.

Do I have to file an MV-104 if the crash wasn’t my fault? Yes, if the crash caused injury or property damage over $1,000. You must file Form MV-104 with the DMV within 10 days, or you risk a license suspension. Fault doesn’t change this requirement.

What happens if the other driver was uninsured or fled the scene? You may be able to recover through your own Uninsured Motorist coverage. New York’s minimum liability limits are currently 25/50/10, so even an insured at-fault driver may not carry enough coverage for a serious injury. This is a situation where it helps to have a lawyer find every policy that might apply.

Talk to a Lawyer Before You Talk to the Insurance Company

A not-at-fault crash feels straightforward until the deadlines, the no-fault rules, and the new fault law start working against you. The drivers who protect their claims are usually the ones who act early and avoid the simple mistakes that adjusters count on.

The Law Offices of Norman Gershon has spent more than 35 years representing injured people across New York City and Westchester County, and has recovered over $100 million for clients through settlements and verdicts. Norman Gershon is known as the lawyer other attorneys call to try their toughest cases, which is exactly the reputation that moves insurance companies at the negotiating table.

If you were hurt in a crash that wasn’t your fault, call the Law Offices of Norman Gershon for a free consultation before you sign anything or give a recorded statement. We’ll explain your options, handle the insurers, and protect the value of your claim.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts, and the law changes. For guidance on your specific situation, contact the Law Offices of Norman Gershon.