If you are a New York resident or the accident occurred in New York and no other insurance is available, MVAIC may pay your claim. MVAIC provides coverage similar to standard auto insurance — bodily injury up to $25K/$50K minimums, plus PIP up to $50K.
The critical requirement: you must file a Notice of Intention to Make Claim with MVAIC within 90 days of the accident in hit-and-run cases. Miss this deadline and the claim is generally lost.
If you have your own auto policy with Uninsured Motorist (UM) or Supplementary Underinsured Motorist (SUM) coverage, that coverage applies for hit-and-run accidents — and is generally primary over MVAIC.
NYC has thousands of traffic cameras. Many hit-and-runs are eventually solved through camera footage. We move fast because surveillance footage gets overwritten on standard cycles (often 30-90 days).
Yes. New York’s uninsured-motorist (UM) coverage is designed for exactly this. If you have your own auto policy — or in some cases the policy of the vehicle you were in — UM coverage can pay for your injuries even though the at-fault driver is gone. Pedestrians and cyclists may be covered too.
Call 911 and report it immediately — a police report is critical for a UM claim. Get medical care, photograph the scene and your injuries, and write down anything you remember about the vehicle. Look for cameras and witnesses. Then call us, because UM claims have strict early-notice deadlines.
No. UM coverage exists precisely because the other driver often can’t be identified. A police report and prompt notice to your insurer matter more than identifying the car.
You’re using coverage you already paid for, and New York law limits surcharges when you weren’t at fault. Don’t let fear of a rate change stop you from recovering for a crash that wasn’t your fault.
Generally three years for the injury claim, but UM claims carry their own, often shorter, notice deadlines — so contact a lawyer quickly.
