Understanding Uninsured Motorist Coverage in New York

New York's required uninsured-motorist coverage protects eligible bodily-injury claims when the responsible vehicle is uninsured or qualifies as an unidentified hit-and-run vehicle. It does not include $10,000 for repairing your car. After a crash, ask your auto insurer to identify the UM and supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorists (SUM) endorsements in force, open the appropriate claim, and provide the notice and proof requirements in writing.

UM, SUM, and no-fault benefits have different purposes. A coverage limit is not a promised settlement, and an uninsured driver does not make every loss payable under your own policy.

What New York Requires, and What SUM Adds

Insurance Law § 3420(f)(1) requires UM bodily-injury protection in covered New York auto policies. The minimum limits are $25,000 for injury to one person and $50,000 for injury to two or more people in an accident, with death limits of $50,000 and $100,000 respectively. This mandatory protection concerns accidents in New York. Property damage is not part of those UM limits.

SUM can provide broader bodily-injury protection for uninsured and qualifying underinsured vehicles, including covered accidents elsewhere in the United States and Canada. For a new noncommercial motor vehicle policy originally entered into on or after June 16, 2018, § 3420(f)(2-a) generally requires SUM limits equal to bodily-injury liability limits unless the first named insured signs a permitted lower-limit selection or rejection. Do not describe SUM as absent merely because you do not remember buying an add-on. Check the declarations, endorsement, and selection or rejection record. Different rules apply to older policies and other policy types.

The people insured can include the named insured, qualifying resident household relatives, and occupants in the circumstances defined by the endorsement. Obtain the actual definition rather than assuming that every friend driving or riding in any vehicle is insured under your policy.

Underinsured Does Not Just Mean the Bills Are Larger

Under § 3420(f)(2) and (2-a), the underinsurance trigger compares the other vehicle's applicable bodily-injury liability limits with the bodily-injury liability limits under your policy. Damages exceeding the other driver's coverage do not by themselves establish SUM eligibility. Multi-claimant payments can require additional statutory analysis.

If SUM applies, the limit shown is not automatically stacked on top of the other driver's payment. The DFS-prescribed SUM endorsement, Conditions 5–8, addresses liability-payment offsets, non-stacking, priority among policies, and exhaustion. Ask for the insurer's calculation, including each limit and payment it uses. A difference between two policy limits is an available-coverage calculation, not proof that your injuries are worth that amount.

Before accepting the other insurer's payment or signing a release, address the SUM insurer's notice and consent requirements. The endorsement has a procedure for a proposed policy-limit settlement that protects the SUM insurer's rights. A release signed without handling that procedure can put coverage at issue. Do not wait until after depositing a settlement check to ask.

If the Driver Left the Scene

Report the crash promptly and preserve the report number, witness contacts, photographs, available video, and details of any physical contact. Under § 3420(f)(3), recovery involving an unidentified vehicle is conditioned on physical contact with the insured person or the occupied vehicle. A no-contact allegation does not automatically satisfy that condition; disputed or indirect-contact facts need review.

The DFS-published mandatory UM endorsement includes reporting within 24 hours or as soon as reasonably possible to a specified official, and a sworn statement to the insurer within 90 days thereafter for a qualifying hit-and-run claim. Obtain your actual endorsement immediately and comply with its applicable requirements. The DMV's separate 10-day report is not a substitute for the insurance conditions.

If no applicable auto policy protects you, ask whether you qualify for MVAIC rather than assuming there is no route. Check household coverage first and promptly review MVAIC's reporting requirements using the DFS filing instructions. MVAIC is not a general vehicle-repair fund, and eligibility and its own filing rules must be checked.

Keep No-Fault and Vehicle Repairs Separate

No-fault pays eligible basic economic losses, such as medical expenses and part of lost earnings, without deciding fault. For a typical New York crash, the occupied vehicle's insurer is the starting point for an occupant, while a pedestrian usually claims with the striking vehicle's insurer. Uninsured-vehicle and household-coverage situations can change that order. Motorcycle occupants generally do not receive no-fault benefits.

The usual New York no-fault requirements are written accident notice within 30 days, medical-expense proof within 45 days after service, and work-loss proof within 90 days after the loss is incurred. Initial notice must be as soon as reasonably practicable, and written reasonable-justification exceptions can apply. These requirements are separate from UM/SUM notice.

For covered UM claims, § 3420(f)(1) limits recovery of non-economic loss by reference to the serious-injury standard and avoids duplicating basic economic loss. SUM also has its own serious-injury exclusion for non-economic loss from a New York accident. A claim for eligible excess economic loss is a different issue from pain and suffering.

Current § 5102(d) no longer includes the old 90-out-of-180-days category. The 2026 Part EE amendments apply to actions and proceedings commenced on or after May 26, 2026, not simply accidents occurring after that day. Their CPLR 1411(b) fault bar applies to personal-injury actions subject to Article 51. Have the applicable proceeding, injury standard, and legal entitlement reviewed rather than relying on an old statement that a mostly-at-fault claimant can always recover.

Repair or total-loss payment normally requires a separate route, such as applicable collision coverage or a property-damage claim against an identified responsible party. Mandatory UM and SUM do not pay for vehicle damage. Ask the insurer to identify any deductible and valuation method for the coverage it proposes to use.

Notice Is Not the Same as the Time to Start Arbitration

Give UM/SUM notice promptly under the endorsement. Do not wait three years on the assumption that the negligence lawsuit deadline controls every insurance claim.

A proceeding to compel UM arbitration can be governed by the six-year contract limitations period. In Progressive Northeastern Insurance Co. v. Rogers, the court distinguished an ordinary accident-date accrual from a later event that made the offending vehicle uninsured. In Matter of Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Pascarella, the court addressed when a SUM claim had accrued after the liability-coverage payment. Neither decision creates a universal six years from a denial letter.

Ask counsel to identify the endorsement, the event that starts the particular limitations period, the required arbitration or court step, and all earlier conditions. A separate negligence action against the driver generally has the three-year period under CPLR 214. Preserving one route does not necessarily preserve the other.

What to Request if Coverage Is Disputed

Ask the insurer to put the disputed issue in writing:

• Whether you are an insured under the specific endorsement.
• Why the other vehicle is or is not uninsured or underinsured.
• Which notice, physical-contact, proof, or consent condition is disputed.
• Which injury, causation, fault, or serious-injury issue remains unresolved.
• Which policy limits, other payments, or priority rules produce the proposed amount.

Keep the declarations, endorsements, coverage letters, accident report, medical and wage records, and proof of every notice together. Use official legal-help resources if a denial, release, or approaching deadline needs review. TurnYourClaim does not sell insurance, receive your claim documents, or provide a free attorney consultation.

This article provides general information, not legal or medical advice. Coverage and legal deadlines depend on the facts and the policy in force. A New York-licensed attorney can assess your claim.