What is Liability in a Rochester Car Accident?

The city of Rochester sees car accidents every day, and each one of those accidents tells a different story. But how does liability play into a Rochester car accident? New York State requires drivers to carry a minimum of $25,000.00 in liability insurance, but how is that used when you get into a car accident in Rochester?

No-Fault And PIP

New York State is a no-fault state when it comes to auto accident coverage. This means that, generally speaking, every policy carried by Rochester drivers has coverage called Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage. When you are in a car accident, your PIP coverage will kick in to pay some medical bills, and lost income.

The Other Party’s Liability

Every driver is also required to carry liability and bodily injury coverage on their policies as well. If you have property damage to your vehicle or other property that may have been damaged in the accident and you do not want to pay your deductible for your liability coverage, then you can submit the property damage to the insurance carrier for the other party and, if you were not at fault, make them pay for your property damage instead.

What If PIP Runs Out?

Hospitals and medical expenses can get extremely costly. If your PIP coverage runs out and you are still facing lost income and medical costs, then you can submit your expenses to the other party’s insurance company to be covered under their bodily injury coverage.

Our firm has years of experience handling liability issues as they apply to Rochester car accidents. If you find yourself in a battle with an insurance company over liability coverage after a being injured in a Rochester accident, give one of our Rochester car accident lawyers a call.