{"id":71,"date":"2019-12-03T01:46:59","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T01:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/ny-personal-injury-law\/?post_type=chapter&p=71"},"modified":"2019-12-03T01:46:59","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T01:46:59","slug":"no-fault-automobile-insurance-overview","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/ny-personal-injury-law\/chapter\/no-fault-automobile-insurance-overview\/","title":{"raw":"No-Fault Automobile Insurance Overview","rendered":"No-Fault Automobile Insurance Overview"},"content":{"raw":"NO-FAULT AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn 1974, NYS passed Article 51 of the New York State Insurance Law, formally titled \u201cMotor Vehicle Reparations Act\u201d, and commonly known as \u201cno-fault.\u201d\r\n\r\nUnder this law, anyone registering a motor vehicle in New York State is required to have at least the minimal amount of automobile insurance coverage for that vehicle. If that vehicle is involved in any kind of an auto accident, whether they are the driver or someone else with their permission is, their insurance carrier will be responsible up to $50,000 of the medical expenses and economic losses caused by the accident to the driver and occupants of that vehicle regardless of who is at fault. Thus we get the name no-fault insurance.\r\n\r\nUnder this statute, lawsuits for automobile accident cases are only allowed when a plaintiff is seriously injured, as defined by the statute. Insurance Law \u00a7 5104(a),(b) provides that a plaintiff in a personal injury action arising out of negligence in the use or operation of a motor vehicle must establish that he\/she has incurred a basic economic loss exceeding $50,000 or must establish that he\/she has suffered \u201cserious injury\u201d.\r\n\r\nInsurance Law \u00a7 5102(d) defines serious injury as personal injury which results in one of the following:\r\n\r\n\u2022 Death\r\n\r\n\u2022 Dismemberment\r\n\r\n\u2022 Significant disfigurement\r\n\r\n\u2022 Fracture\r\n\r\n\u2022 Loss of a fetus\r\n\r\n\u2022 Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system\r\n\r\n\u2022 Permanent consequential limitation of a body organ or member\r\n\r\n\u2022 Significant limitation of use of a body function or system\r\n\r\n\u2022 Medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute such person\u2019s usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment.\r\n\r\nThe minimal amount of liability coverage you can purchase in NYS is:\r\n