Guide · New York auto accident benefits
NY No-Fault and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Guide Benefits, deadlines and injury claims
No-fault PIP can pay eligible injury-related expenses and part of lost earnings after a covered New York crash, without first deciding who caused it. It is not a settlement for every loss.
The first job is to find the insurer that should receive notice, then track three different submission clocks. This guide is for injured people and families.
PIP benefits
What the basic benefit can pay
New York's required basic no-fault coverage provides up to $50,000 per eligible person for combined basic economic loss. That is not $50,000 each for medical care, wages and other expenses.
Qualifying medically necessary crash-related treatment, lost earnings and certain other reasonable and necessary expenses may draw on the combined coverage. Policy terms and additional purchased benefits can change what is available. See the DFS minimum auto-insurance requirements for coverage context.
Eligibility and the applicable insurer depend on the vehicle, the person's role and the available coverage. A driver or passenger should not assume the same policy route applies to a pedestrian or cyclist.
- Combined basic limit
- $50,000 per person
- Shared across benefit types, not per category.
- Basic lost earnings
- Generally 80%
- Of earnings lost from work, up to $2,000 per month for up to three years, with statutory offsets that can reduce the payment.
- Not covered by PIP
- Pain and suffering, and vehicle repairs. Vehicle damage is a different coverage question.
The lost-earnings figure is not a promise of $2,000 a month to everyone who misses work. Pay records, employer information and medical support for work restrictions help an insurer evaluate the claim. An insurer can dispute coverage, necessity or causal connection.
If a crash was fatal, no-fault death benefits and a separate wrongful death analysis may both be involved. The family should obtain individualized advice rather than assume a no-fault claim settles all possible claims.
Submission deadlines
Three clocks, three kinds of records
The notice, medical-bill and lost-earnings submissions run on separate clocks. Each needs its own proof.
| What must be submitted | General time frame | What to keep |
|---|---|---|
| Written notice of the no-fault claim to the applicable insurer | Time frame: As soon as reasonably practicable, generally within 30 days after the accident | Keep: Accident details, a copy of the notice, dated proof of delivery |
| Health-care bills | Time frame: Generally within 45 days after treatment | Keep: The bill, the visit date, and the provider’s submission confirmation if available |
| Lost-earnings claim | Time frame: Generally within 90 days after the loss | Keep: Missed-work dates, employer and disability records, submission confirmation |
Source: DFS consumer no-fault FAQ, which also discusses written justification for some late submissions. A potential exception is not a reason to wait.
Why “NF-2 deadlines” is a misleading shorthand
The familiar NF-2 is an application form. Describing the 30-day rule as an NF-2-only deadline misses an important distinction: DFS describes written notice sufficient to identify the injured person and accident, sent to the applicable insurer.
Complete requested forms promptly, retain the entire submission and confirm receipt. If you cannot tell which insurer applies, get help identifying it rather than letting the question consume the notice period.
Confirm what the insurer received
Ask promptly which insurer receives the claim and what it has actually received. If a provider handles bill submission, confirm that arrangement instead of assuming treatment alone put a bill in the insurer's file.
The DFS no-fault cover letter also discusses medical-bill submission and explanations for delay.
Organizing the claim
Make one file that follows the claim
The file need not be perfect before you ask for advice. Its purpose is to answer concrete questions: Was notice sent? To whom? Which bill or wage period is disputed? What deadline appears in a letter?
A dated upload confirmation can establish what you sent, but may not prove the insurer accepted a bill as payable. Check the claim's status rather than assuming silence means approval.
The accident
Date, location, report number if available
Notice
Your notice or NF-2, and proof of delivery
Coverage
Policy information and insurer correspondence
Treatment
Visit dates, provider bills and referrals
Work
Pay records and work-restriction notes
Expenses
Receipts, with what each expense was for
Insurer actions
Requests, exam notices, denials, confirmations, in date order
What is missing
Who may hold it: provider, employer or insurer
If several family members were injured, keep their documents in separate files so each person's coverage and submissions can be assessed on the right record.
If the insurer questions a benefit
When no-fault benefits are delayed, denied, or cut off
A request for more documents is not the same as a scheduled examination, and neither is necessarily a written denial. Read the whole notice, record when it arrived and which bill or period it concerns, and save the envelope or portal message.
- Request for documents
- Note the date and what is asked for. Respond with the specific records, and keep a copy of what you sent.
- Scheduled examination (IME)
- Confirm the arrangements and seek advice before ignoring it. A missed appointment can cause a coverage dispute.
- Written denial
- Obtain the written reason and compare it with the actual treatment, wage and submission records.
A qualified lawyer can assess the available dispute path and any separate injury claim. There is no single challenge deadline that fits every notice. Do not change medically recommended care just because an insurance letter arrived; discuss treatment decisions with your clinician.
If a serious-injury lawsuit is possible
A bodily-injury case asks different questions
No-fault benefits address covered economic losses without first proving another person's negligence. A claim against a responsible party asks who caused the crash, what losses resulted and which legal limitations apply.
In the usual covered-auto setting, recovery for non-economic loss also raises New York's statutory serious injury requirement under Insurance Law § 5102 and § 5104.
A fracture, significant disfigurement or qualifying significant or permanent limitation may be relevant. A diagnostic label alone does not prove that a claimant meets the statute or that someone else was negligent. Current statutory text and the individual facts need attorney review.
2026 change to the serious-injury definition
The DFS 2026 motor-vehicle reform circular says Part EE removed the former nonpermanent 90-of-180-day category.
DFS states the amendments apply to actions and proceedings commenced on or after May 26, 2026.
That turns on when an action or proceeding is commenced, not simply the accident date. Counsel must verify current text and transitional application before relying on the change.
Do not confuse that former injury category with the separate 90-day lost-earnings submission period in the deadline table. One concerns proof in a lawsuit; the other concerns a benefits claim.
The firm's serious injury threshold guide discusses that separate question, but its older 90-of-180-day explanation must be read with the 2026 DFS update above. For the difference between the two tracks, see no-fault insurance vs. bodily-injury claims.
No-fault car accident settlement NY
How PIP benefits fit with a car accident settlement
A no-fault claim and a car accident settlement are related, but they are not the same thing. PIP benefits can pay qualifying economic losses early. A bodily-injury claim against a responsible party is separate and depends on fault, the injuries and the serious-injury requirement.
The same records often matter to both: notice, bills, denial letters, examination notices and wage records. Keep one organized file, and let a lawyer assess the two tracks together.
For representation, not benefits explanation
Questions that often get mixed together
New York no-fault and PIP FAQs
New York no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) can pay eligible injury-related expenses and part of lost earnings after a covered motor vehicle crash without first deciding who caused it. It is not a settlement for every loss: it does not pay for pain and suffering or repair the car.
No. The required basic figure is a combined per-person economic-loss limit, not an allowance repeated for every benefit category. Additional coverage may affect a particular policy, so ask for the policy terms and an accounting if the insurer says benefits have run out.
Give written notice identifying the claimant and the crash to the applicable insurer as soon as reasonably practicable, generally within 30 days. The standard application matters, but DFS does not describe notice as valid only on that one form. Keep dated proof and ask for advice promptly if the notice was late.
Qualifying medically necessary crash-related treatment, lost earnings, and certain other reasonable and necessary expenses may draw on the combined basic coverage. A fatal crash may also involve death benefits. Policy terms and additional purchased coverage can change what is available, and an insurer can dispute coverage, necessity or causal connection.
A scheduled examination is different from a request for documents, and neither is necessarily a written denial. Read the whole notice, record when it arrived and what it concerns, confirm the arrangements, and seek advice before ignoring it. A missed appointment can cause a coverage dispute.
No. Payment neither proves another person was at fault nor decides the serious-injury issue. The benefits file and a possible lawsuit can be assessed together, but each has its own evidence and deadlines.
Your notice or NF-2 and proof of delivery, the report number, policy and insurer correspondence, treatment dates and bills, pay records and work-restriction notes, receipts for injury-related expenses, and every insurer request, examination notice and denial, kept in date order.
If you were hurt in a New York collision
Bring the accident date, policy information, treatment and wage records, and any insurer letters. The right next step depends on the coverage and facts; this guide cannot calculate an individual filing deadline or promise a recovery.