New York Personal Injury Settlement Rules
New York gives you 3 years from the date of the accident to file, under CPLR 214(5), which the New York courts self-help table confirms for ordinary negligence. New York's fault rule now depends on the kind of claim. For non-auto injury cases, CPLR 1411(a) still applies pure comparative negligence, so your fault share reduces your award but never bars you: a person found 70% at fault on a 40,000 dollar claim still recovers 12,000 dollars. Motor-vehicle claims changed on May 26, 2026. Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026 added CPLR 1411(b), which bars recovery entirely in an Insurance Law Article 51 motor-vehicle action when your fault is greater than the combined fault of everyone you are suing. In practice that is a 51% bar on car, truck, motorcycle and pedestrian claims, and it applies to actions commenced on or after that date. New York is also a no-fault state, so basic economic loss (up to 50,000 dollars per person) is paid by no-fault PIP regardless of fault, and you cannot recover pain and suffering in a motor-vehicle case unless you cleared the "serious injury" threshold in Insurance Law 5102(d). The 2026 amendments repealed the old 90/180-day category from that threshold, so the remaining gates are death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, fracture, loss of a fetus, permanent loss of use, permanent consequential limitation, and significant limitation. There is no cap on non-economic damages in ordinary or medical-malpractice cases, but a new Insurance Law 5104(d) caps non-economic loss at 100,000 dollars for drivers who were uninsured, or who were impaired and convicted of it, or who were in flight from a felony and convicted of it. A serious or contested case needs a lawyer licensed in New York.
New York rules at a glance
- Statute of limitations
- 3 yr
- Fault rule
- Pure comparative, with a 51% bar on motor-vehicle claims
- No-fault (PIP) state
- Yes
- General damages cap
- No cap on general damages. A 100,000 dollar non-economic cap applies to certain at-fault drivers under Insurance Law 5104(d).
- Medical-malpractice cap
- No cap on medical-malpractice non-economic damages.
The rules an adjuster applies in New York
Statute of limitations: 3 years
You have 3 years from the date of the accident for ordinary negligence, under CPLR 214(5), per the New York courts self-help limitations table. The 3 years run from the accident date, not from the point of maximum medical improvement, so a long recovery shortens the time left to file rather than extending it. Three deadlines sit inside that headline number and are all shorter: 2 years and 6 months for medical malpractice, 1 year and 90 days for most municipal defendants, and 90 days for the notice that has to precede a municipal suit. Check which one your defendant falls under before you assume you have 3 years. (source: https://www.nycourts.gov/help/representing-yourself-court/statute-limitations-timetable)
Negligence rule: split since May 2026
CPLR 1411(a) keeps pure comparative negligence for non-auto claims: your conduct "shall not bar recovery" and damages drop in proportion to fault. CPLR 1411(b), added effective May 26, 2026, bars recovery outright in a motor-vehicle action under Insurance Law Article 51 when your fault is greater than the combined fault of the defendants. So how fault is apportioned now runs one way for a New York slip and fall and another way for a New York crash, and the first question is which kind of claim you have. Note the wording of 1411(b): it measures your share against the defendants' combined share, so suing two defendants who are 30% each puts you at 40% and still inside the bar. (source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/1411)
Worked example: a 60,000 dollar claim at 30% fault
Take a 60,000 dollar claim where the adjuster puts 30% of the blame on you. In a New York slip and fall, CPLR 1411(a) reduces the award in proportion, so you recover 42,000 dollars, and the same arithmetic still pays 600 dollars at 99% fault. In a motor-vehicle case commenced on or after May 26, 2026 your 30% is not greater than the defendant's 70%, so CPLR 1411(b) does not bar you and the figure is the same 42,000 dollars. Push your share to 60% against a single defendant and the two rules split apart: the slip and fall still pays 24,000 dollars, the crash pays nothing. The identical file in North Carolina or Virginia is worth zero at any fault share above zero, because both still bar a plaintiff who contributed 1%.
Damage caps: none generally, 100,000 dollars for some at-fault drivers
New York has no cap on general or medical-malpractice non-economic damages. Insurance Law 5104(d), effective May 26, 2026, caps non-economic loss at 100,000 dollars for a claimant who was operating an uninsured vehicle they were responsible for insuring, who was impaired and convicted of it, or who was in the commission of or immediate flight from a felony and convicted of it. It does not apply where the injury resulted in death. If you are unsure whether a ceiling like that would touch your claim, how a damage cap works sets out what these statutes limit and what they leave alone. (source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ISC/5104)
No-fault: yes (serious-injury threshold)
Under Insurance Law Article 51, basic economic loss (up to 50,000 dollars per person, section 5102) is paid by no-fault PIP regardless of fault, and section 5104 bars recovery for pain and suffering in an auto case unless the injured person sustained a "serious injury" defined in section 5102(d). PIP covers the bills, so the pain-and-suffering half is the part actually being negotiated: run your own figures through the personal injury calculator before you respond to an offer. (source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ISC/5102)
State quirk: the 5102(d) threshold
The serious-injury categories are death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, fracture, loss of a fetus, permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system, permanent consequential limitation of use, and significant limitation of use. The 90/180-day category was repealed effective May 26, 2026. Clearing one of the remaining categories is the gate to a pain-and-suffering claim in a motor-vehicle case. (source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ISC/5102)
Suing a city, county or school district: 90 days
If the defendant is a public corporation such as a city, county, town, village, fire district or school district, General Municipal Law 50-e requires a written notice of claim served within 90 days after the claim arises. Miss it and the 3-year window is academic, because the notice is a condition precedent to the suit. A court may extend the time to serve on application, but the statute says the extension "shall not exceed the time limited for the commencement of an action by the claimant against the public corporation," so it cannot rescue a claim that is already stale. Once notice is served you must wait at least 30 days (40 where service went through the secretary of state) before suing, and General Municipal Law 50-i then requires the action itself to be commenced within 1 year and 90 days of the event, not 3 years. A pothole fall, a city bus, a school playground injury: all of them run on the short clock. (source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GMU/50-E) (source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GMU/50-I)
Suing the State of New York: the Court of Claims
A claim against the State itself, rather than against a municipality, goes to the Court of Claims and runs on a separate schedule again. Court of Claims Act 10(3) requires a negligence claim to be filed and served on the attorney general within 90 days of accrual, unless you serve a written notice of intention within that same 90 days, which then buys you 2 years from accrual to file the claim itself. An intentional tort by a state employee gets the same 90 days but only 1 year after a notice of intention, under 10(3-b). Section 10(6) lets the court accept a late claim in its discretion, weighing whether the delay was excusable, whether the State had notice of the essential facts and a chance to investigate, whether the claim appears meritorious, whether the State was substantially prejudiced, and whether you have another remedy. That is a motion you have to win, not a right you hold. (source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CTC/10)
Medical malpractice: 2 years and 6 months, not 3 years
New York does not cap medical-malpractice damages, but it does shorten the deadline. CPLR 214-a gives 2 years and 6 months from the act, omission or failure complained of, or from the last treatment where there is continuous treatment for the same condition (an examination requested by the patient purely to check on their condition does not count as continuing treatment). A retained foreign object, which the statute defines to exclude a chemical compound, fixation device or prosthetic aid, can be sued on within 1 year of discovery or of the facts that would reasonably lead to discovery, whichever is earlier. For a negligent failure to diagnose cancer or a malignant tumor the period instead runs 2 years and 6 months from when the patient knew or reasonably should have known of the act or omission, subject to an absolute 7-year outside limit. (source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/214-A)
Discovery and tolling: latent injuries and injured children
For an ordinary accident the 3 years run from the date of the accident whether or not you felt the injury that day. The exception is CPLR 214-c: where the harm comes from the latent effects of exposure to a substance, the 3 years are computed from the date the plaintiff discovered the injury, or reasonably should have discovered it, whichever is earlier, and 214-c(3) applies that same discovery date to the 50-e and 50-i municipal notice clocks. CPLR 214-c does not apply to medical or dental malpractice. For a child, CPLR 208 stops the clock during infancy and gives 3 years after the disability ends, subject to a 10-year outer limit that expressly does not bind infancy claims outside medical, dental and podiatric malpractice. (source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/214-C) (source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/208)
Estimate a New York settlement
Preset to New York rules. The pure comparative, with a 51% bar on motor-vehicle claims rule is applied automatically.
Negotiation range
Low, likely, highWhat the settlement is made of
- Economic damages kept$9,70029%
- Pain and suffering kept$24,25071%
- Removed by fault and caps$00%
The ring is the gross claim of $33,950. The two kept arcs sum to the net figure in the centre, and the red arc is what comparative fault and statutory caps take away.
Settlement breakdown
Gross $33,950| Component | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Medical expenses | $6,500 | 19.1% |
| Lost wages | $3,200 | 9.4% |
| Economic damages | $9,700 | 28.6% |
| Pain and suffering (2.5x economic) | $24,250 | 71.4% |
| Comparative-fault reduction (0%) | $0 | 0.0% |
| Likely settlement | $33,950 | 100.0% |
Share is measured against the gross claim of $33,950. Method: multiplier method, industry standard. Estimate for negotiation, not legal advice.
Rules applied
NY- Negligence rule
- Modified comparative (51% bar)
- Statute of limitations
- 3 years
- Non-economic cap
- None modeled
- Method
- Multiplier, 2.5x
Estimate only, not legal advice. The legal rules this calculator applies, each state's statute of limitations, comparative-negligence rule, and damage caps, are taken from official state statutes and US government sources, and every figure is cited inline so you can check it against the original. The multiplier method itself is the industry-standard approach bodily-injury adjusters use internally to set claim reserves, so treat the result as a negotiating benchmark rather than a promise: a real settlement still moves with insurer behavior, the strength of your evidence, and the jurisdiction you file in. Your figures stay on your device. Nothing you type is sent to a server, logged, or shared, and it clears when you close the tab. Take these numbers to a personal-injury attorney licensed in your state before you accept or reject any offer, especially for catastrophic injury or amounts above $50,000.
New York settlement questions
How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in New York?
3 years from the date of the accident for ordinary negligence, under CPLR 214(5). A claim filed after the deadline is time-barred.
Does partial fault reduce my New York settlement?
It depends on the claim. In a non-auto case a 40% fault finding cuts a 30,000 dollar value to 18,000 dollars, and you can still recover even at 99% fault. In a motor-vehicle case brought on or after May 26, 2026, CPLR 1411(b) bars you completely once your fault is greater than the defendants' combined fault, so at 60% at fault you recover nothing.
What is the serious-injury threshold in New York?
In an auto case you can claim pain and suffering only if you meet a "serious injury" under Insurance Law 5102(d), such as a fracture, significant disfigurement, permanent loss of use, or a significant limitation of use. The 90/180-day category was repealed effective May 26, 2026.
Is there a cap on pain and suffering in New York?
Generally no. New York has no cap on non-economic damages in ordinary or medical-malpractice cases. The exception is Insurance Law 5104(d), effective May 26, 2026, which caps non-economic loss at 100,000 dollars for certain at-fault drivers: uninsured drivers, drivers convicted of impaired driving, and drivers convicted of felony flight.
How long do I have to sue a city or school district in New York?
Far less than 3 years. General Municipal Law 50-e requires a written notice of claim within 90 days of the claim arising, and General Municipal Law 50-i requires the action itself to be commenced within 1 year and 90 days of the event. Claims against the State of New York go to the Court of Claims and need a claim or a notice of intention served on the attorney general within 90 days of accrual.
Is the filing deadline different for medical malpractice in New York?
Yes. CPLR 214-a gives 2 years and 6 months, not 3 years, running from the act complained of or from the last date of continuous treatment. A retained foreign object gets 1 year from discovery, and a negligent failure to diagnose cancer runs 2 years and 6 months from when the patient knew or should have known, capped at 7 years.
What is a 60,000 dollar New York claim worth if I was 30% at fault?
42,000 dollars either way. In a slip and fall CPLR 1411(a) reduces the award in proportion. In a crash your 30% is not greater than the defendant's 70%, so CPLR 1411(b) does not bar you. At 60% against a single defendant the slip and fall still pays 24,000 dollars while the crash pays nothing.
Does an injured child get more time to sue in New York?
Yes. CPLR 208 tolls the limitation period while the person is an infant and allows 3 years after the disability ends. A 10-year outer limit applies generally, but it does not apply to infancy in any action other than medical, dental or podiatric malpractice.
About the editorial team
The PersonalInjuryCalculator.us editorial team documents how US insurance carriers value personal-injury claims and turns that into plain-English calculators and explainers. Every dollar range, multiplier, filing deadline, and damages cap published here is traced back to a named source. The team is not a law firm and includes no attorneys, so nothing on this site is legal advice. Speak with a licensed attorney in your state for serious or contested cases.
Sources
- N.Y. courts: statute of limitations table
- CPLR 1411 (comparative fault)
- N.Y. Ins. Law 5102 (no-fault threshold)
- Gen. Mun. Law 50-e (90-day notice of claim)
- Gen. Mun. Law 50-i (1 year and 90 days to sue)
- Court of Claims Act 10 (claims against the State)
- CPLR 214-a (medical malpractice deadline)
- CPLR 208 (infancy tolling)
- CenterJD: damage caps survey