New York changed the rules on May 26, 2026, and the change can decide whether a crash victim is ever paid for pain and suffering. Lawmakers deleted one of the nine categories that qualified an injury as serious, told the trier of fact to settle fault before looking at the injury at all, and added a new bar for claimants who carry most of the blame. Eight categories are left. In the ordinary crash between two insured New York vehicles, if your injury does not fit one of them, you cannot be paid for pain and suffering at all, no matter how clear the other driver’s fault. Our New York car accident attorneys at Bornstein & Emanuel, P.C. explain where the line now sits.
What Changed in May 2026 and When the New Rules Apply
New York runs a no-fault system. After a crash, your insurer pays your medical bills and part of your lost wages no matter who was responsible. Basic coverage is capped at $50,000 per person and never covers pain and suffering. Reaching those damages means stepping outside no-fault, and the serious injury threshold is the gate you have to get through.
Part EE of Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026 moved that gate. The amendments took effect on May 26, 2026, and they apply to every action and proceeding commenced on or after that date, according to the official guidance the state issued to auto insurers. The trigger is the day the lawsuit is filed, not the day of the crash. A collision from two years ago will be measured against the new rules if the case is filed now.
Three things changed at once. First, the definition of a serious injury lost one of its nine categories. Second, the trier of fact was told to settle fault before it touches the question of whether an injury is serious. Third, a new bar on shared fault arrived for motor vehicle cases. Each one can decide a case on its own.
The Eight Categories That Still Qualify
Insurance Law Section 5102(d) is where the state defines a qualifying injury. The threshold governs claims between people the statute calls covered persons, which is the ordinary situation when two insured New York vehicles collide. Meeting any single category on the list opens the door to a claim for pain and suffering against the driver who hurt you. The current list contains eight entries:
- Death
- Dismemberment
- Significant disfigurement
- A fracture
- Loss of a fetus
- Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system
- Permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member
- Significant limitation of use of a body function or system
The category that disappeared was the 90/180-day rule. It let people sue over a medically documented, non-permanent injury that kept them from substantially all of their usual daily activities for at least ninety of the one hundred eighty days after a crash. It was the path many soft-tissue claims used. It is gone. An injury that once qualified only through that route no longer opens the door to a claim for pain and suffering on its own.
Why Fault Now Gets Decided First
Insurance Law Section 5104(a) now tells the trier of fact that it may not decide whether an injury is a serious injury until it has first decided which parties are at fault. Liability for pain and suffering cannot be established until a serious injury has been found.
The order matters in practice. The statute now dictates the sequence. The question of who is at fault gets decided first, and only after that is the question of serious injury decided. That leaves a claim resting on strong injury proof and contested liability less room to work with. Building the liability record early, through the police report, scene photographs, camera footage, and witness statements, has become just as urgent as building the medical record.
How Shared Fault Can Now End a Claim
New York was known for a rule that never cut anyone off. Under CPLR Section 1411, an injured person could recover even when mostly to blame, with the award reduced in proportion to that share. That rule survives as subsection 1411(a) and still governs injury cases outside the motor vehicle context.
Motor vehicle cases governed by Article 51 of the Insurance Law are now different. The new subsection 1411(b) bars recovery when the injured person’s culpable conduct is greater than the culpable conduct of the person the claim is brought against, or greater than the combined culpable conduct of the persons the claim is brought against. Read plainly, a driver who carries most of the blame for a crash can now walk away with nothing rather than a reduced award.
Insurance Law Section 5104(d) adds a separate ceiling for a narrow group. Where an at-fault injured person has a serious injury and is not barred outright by the new fault rule, noneconomic damages are limited to $100,000 if:
- The person was driving uninsured while responsible for insuring the vehicle, unless the lapse in coverage lasted less than thirty days
- The person was driving while impaired and was convicted of it
- The person was driving in the commission of a felony, or in immediate flight from one, and was convicted of that felony.
The ceiling does not apply where the injuries resulted in death.
Bottom line for injured victims is that in newer New York car accident cases, being more than 50% at fault can now wipe out your claim entirely instead of just shrinking it, and certain drivers who were uninsured, impaired, or fleeing a felony may see pain and suffering damages capped at $100,000 even with a serious injury. If you were hurt in a crash, it’s worth talking with a New York car accident lawyer early, before an insurance company decides you’re “mostly to blame” and tries to pay nothing.
What This Means for Your Medical Records
With the 90/180-day category gone, the remaining categories reward objective, documented proof. Imaging that shows structural damage, range-of-motion measurements taken by a specialist, and treatment notes that run without unexplained gaps now carry the weight that a diary of missed activities once could. Insurance carriers know the list got shorter, and they will argue that whatever you have does not fit it.
Time is the other pressure. The general deadline to file a personal injury lawsuit in New York is three years under CPLR Section 214. Claims against a city, county, town, village, fire district or school district run on a much shorter clock: General Municipal Law Section 50-e requires a written notice of claim within ninety days after the claim arises, and Section 50-i requires the lawsuit itself to be commenced within one year and ninety days after the event, except that a wrongful death action must be commenced within two years after the death.
In a wrongful death case, the ninety days for the notice runs from the appointment of the representative of the estate. Because the new threshold rules attach to the filing date, when your case is filed can now change which version of the law it is judged under.
Talk to a New York Car Accident Lawyer About Your Options
Bornstein & Emanuel, P.C. has handled nothing but personal injury cases since 1992, for clients across Nassau County, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Westchester, and Suffolk County. We know how carriers argue the threshold, and we know how much the 2026 amendments changed the ground under these claims. If you were hurt in a crash and you are not sure whether your injury qualifies, we will review your records and tell you where you stand.
Consultations are free, and we work on a contingency fee, so there is never an attorney fee until we recover for you. Our team is available around the clock, and we have Spanish-speaking staff. Hablamos Español. Contact our Garden City office today to get started.
