The NY no-fault system was designed to make recovery simple. It is not. The 30-day PIP filing deadline is unforgiving. The “serious injury threshold” decides whether you can sue for pain and suffering at all. Available coverage often involves multiple insurance policies stacked together — and most lawyers chase only the obvious one. Amparo chases every layer.
01 — No-Fault
Every New York auto insurance policy includes Personal Injury Protection (PIP) — what people call “no-fault.” It’s mandatory, it’s $50,000 per person at minimum, and it pays for medical bills and a portion of lost wages regardless of who caused the accident.
You must file the no-fault application within 30 days of the accident. Miss it and PIP coverage is lost — even if it would have paid your hospital bill. We see this happen often.
PIP covers:
PIP does not cover:
02 — Serious Injury Threshold
Under NY Insurance Law §5102(d), you can only sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering if your injury crosses the “serious injury threshold.” Nine categories:
Categories 6–9 are litigated constantly. Soft-tissue injuries, herniated discs, rotator-cuff tears — threshold determination often depends on the quality of the medical record and expert testimony. This is where representation matters most.
03 — Cases We Take
By Vehicle
Special Situations
MVAIC coverage
30-day deadline
UM/UIM under your own policy
Often elevated damages
Vision Zero violations matter
First-72 evidence preservation
04 — Coverage Layers
The “obvious” coverage is the at-fault driver’s bodily-injury (BI) policy — often the smallest pool of money in the case. We pursue every layer:
05 — How We Work
In person at 40 Wall Street, by phone, by video, or at your hospital bed. Same day for new matters.
Percentage of recovery. No upfront costs. Disclosed in writing.
Bob personally represents Amparo’s clients. No paralegal hand-offs.
In person at 40 Wall Street, by phone, by video, or at your hospital bed. English · Español · فارسی — directly by the principals. Same day for new matters.
06 — FAQ
Not always. Late notice CAN sometimes be excused with a showing of reasonable excuse and no prejudice to the insurer — but the path is narrow. Talk to a lawyer before assuming PIP is gone.
Uber and Lyft each carry $1 million in liability coverage while a driver is on a trip. As a passenger, that policy is your primary coverage. The first adjuster you talk to may try to direct you to the driver’s personal policy (which may carry NY minimums of $25k). The right policy is the $1M.
Two paths: (1) your own SUM/UIM coverage if you have it, and (2) MVAIC — the NY Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation, which covers hit-and-run and uninsured-driver cases. MVAIC has its own Notice of Intention deadline; do not miss it.
Three years from the date of the accident for personal injury under CPLR §214. If a public entity is involved (MTA bus, city vehicle), a 90-day Notice of Claim is also required under GML §50-e.
07 — Neighborhoods
Crashes happen in front of a specific corner, on a specific block, at a specific time of day. Local detail matters — vehicle codes vary, NYPD precincts vary, MTA bus routes vary, traffic-calming devices vary. We’ve built detailed pages for the neighborhoods where most of our auto cases originate. We take cases everywhere in NY State. Below are highlighted neighborhoods.
Manhattan – Bronx – Harlem
Queens
Free, confidential consultation. English · Español · فارسی. No fee unless we recover.
