In the 1970’s New York enacted the No Fault laws to ensure that people who were injured in an accident would receive lost wages and medical benefits in a timely manner and to reduce the amount of personal injury lawsuits filed in the court system.  Under No Fault, the insurance carrier of the vehicle the injured person was in at the time of the accident is responsible to pay for that person’s lost wage and medical benefits regardless of who caused the accident.  The amount of coverage available under a no fault claim can vary.  However, the New York State law requires at a minimum that each policy has up to $50,000 in benefits from which you can receive up to 80% of your lost wages, at a maximum of $2,000 per month.  This money will also cover any medical treatment you receive for injuries related to the accident.
No Fault insurance allows an injured person to get compensated for lost wages and medical expenses quickly.  The claims are paid almost as they are incurred instead of a person having to wait for the end of the case to receive it.  However, it also limits an injured person’s ability to recover for non-economic loss like pain and suffering.  It does this by limiting the ability to receive compensation for non-economic loss just to those people who can establish that their injuries meet the statutory definition of a “serious injury.”  There are nine different categories of what constitutes a serious injury under the No Fault laws.  These include death, significant disfigurement, fracture, sustaining a significant limitation in a body function or member or having a medically determined injury which prevents you from engaging in your normal activities for no less than 90 days within the first 180 days following an accident.  This is known as the serious injury threshold, and it has significantly impaired an injured person’s ability to obtain financial compensation for their pain and suffering following a car accident.
If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, understanding what no fault benefits are is important to ensure that you receive all the benefits you are entitled to following an accident and to ensure that any medical bills relating to injuries from an accident are being paid by the appropriate insurance carrier.  You also want to retain a law firm that is experienced in this area or you could be denied any compensation for your personal injuries if you fail to show that they meet the serious injury threshold.   Our team at Dallas Law is well versed in all areas of the no fault insurance law, and are here to help ensure that you receive all the benefits you are entitled to through the no fault carrier.  We also know what it takes to show that your injuries meet the serious injury threshold and ensure that we obtain you a maximum recovery for your pain and suffering claim.
So if you have been injured in an accident, please contact us today for a free consultation to go over your case with our team.