Averne is a dense part of Queens known for its car accidents. You deserve to be compensated when someone injures you because they were careless behind the wheel.

Fortunately, our attorneys are here to guide you through the complexities of your case. Recovering damages can be confusing for those unfamiliar with the state’s insurance laws. While the rules are designed to get you compensation quickly, your insurance will only cover so much. Our team can help you determine if you meet the threshold to go beyond your insurance and file a lawsuit. We can get evidence to show your injuries were serious enough to justify a lawsuit, which will allow you to recover the non-economic damages insurance will not pay.

For a free case evaluation with our car accident attorneys, contact The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083.

How to File a Lawsuit for a Car Accident in Averne, NY

In some states, car accident victims can file a lawsuit without having to go through any intermediate steps before doing so. In Averne, or anywhere else a car crash occurs in New York, things are not so simple. That is because no-fault insurance rules govern car accident claims.

Understanding these rules can be challenging, especially since they can prevent you from filing a lawsuit in certain situations. Our car accident lawyers can explain your no-fault coverage in detail and if you meet the threshold to file a lawsuit. If you are able to file a lawsuit, we can help you determine how long you have to file it.

No-Fault Insurance Rules

Under the no-fault system, you will file with your own insurance company for compensation. This is in contrast to “at fault” states, where car crash victims must recover compensation from the other driver’s insurance provider. In those claims, the victim still needs to prove the other person was negligent before recovering compensation. With your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance, you do not need to prove fault before getting coverage for your damages. Hence, the name “no-fault.”

The purpose of this system is to cover victims’ economic losses as quickly as possible. It also acts as a way of unburdening a legal system with too many lawsuits already since no-fault insurance prevents claims from being filed in some cases.

Your PIP insurance will primarily cover your healthcare costs and lost income up to a maximum of $50,000 per person. Besides barring certain lawsuits, the other major drawback is that it will only cover reasonably related medical expenses and 80% of your lost wages. It also will not cover property damage to your car. As such, you could still be left with damages after exhausting your PIP coverage.

Further, PIP insurance will not compensate you for non-economic damages, like your pain and suffering. According to I.S.C. Law § 5104(a), you cannot file a lawsuit for non-economic losses unless you suffered serious injuries or high economic loss.

The Serious Injury Threshold and Basic Economic Loss

The only way to file a lawsuit for a car accident in Averne is to either prove you sustained serious injuries or your economic losses went beyond the legal threshold. According to § 5102(a), “basic economic loss” refers to economic damages that went beyond the $50,000 in basic PIP coverage. If you exhausted the first $50,000 in your policy, you could file a lawsuit for the remaining economic losses, as well as non-economic damages.

The other way to file a lawsuit is by overcoming the “serious injury” threshold. § 5102(d) lists several injuries that will qualify, including broken bones, significant disfigurement, loss of a pregnancy, and dismemberment. Your injuries will also be considered serious if they result in a permanent or significant limitation of a body part, organ, system, or function. Medically determined injuries that are non-permanent in nature but will substantially limit you from participating in your typical daily activities are also serious.

Your medical records can be submitted with your lawsuit to justify your claims of serious injury. If the threshold is met, you will have a right to sue even if you did not have more than the basic economic losses.

The Statute of Limitations

Determining whether you suffered serious injuries or significant economic damages is just one step to filing your lawsuit. The other is figuring out how much time to file it before the deadline passes. This deadline is known more commonly as the “statute of limitations.” For car accident claims, C.V.P. Law § 214(5) allows victims to commence the action within only three years of the accident’s date.

This is not nearly as much time as it might seem. The statute of limitations can come up faster than most people expect since you will need evidence to overcome one of the thresholds mentioned above. Worse, if your lawsuit is not filed within the statute of limitations, you will lose out on any compensation beyond your PIP benefits.

Thus, the sooner you contact our firm, the better. This will help preserve evidence in your case, and witnesses’ memories of the incident will be fresher. You might not be able to prove certain elements of your claim if you file a year or two after the accident, as you and other witnesses might not recall important details. By filing sooner, you will also have time to refile your lawsuit in the event the court does not agree with your basis for filing and dismisses it.

How Fault is Determined in an Averne, NY Car Accident Lawsuit

As mentioned, fault is not an issue if you are only recovering compensation through your PIP insurance. If you were permitted to file a lawsuit, though, you can be sure that the defendant will try any excuse to get out of paying damages. The most common way of doing this is by claiming that your negligence also contributed to the accident. Fortunately, sharing fault will not prevent you from recovering compensation.

New York uses a “pure comparative negligence” rule to determine fault when the defendant presents evidence of your own carelessness. According to C.V.P. § 1411, you can still recover damages even if the defendant establishes your assumption of the risk or contributory negligence. However, the amount of compensation you ultimately recover will be reduced in proportion to the percentage of fault you were found by the court to share.

While some states will bar recovery if your share of negligence is higher than the defendant’s, this rule allows you to recover whatever percentage of damages you were not responsible for. For example, if you were 60% at fault and the defendant 40%, you would still get 40% of your claimed damages.

Our Averne, NY Car Accident Lawyers Are Here to Help

Call The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 today to receive your free case review with our car accident lawyers.