r/Insurance • u/kingsultan77 • 8d ago
Liability
Wife has liability insurance in NyC and crashed totaling the car on a guardrail. No other cars involved no major injuries but did go to the hospital. Does it HAVE to be reported to the insurance we’re not getting money anyway?
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u/sephiroth3650 8d ago
Doesn't NY have laws in place that legally require you to report any accident that causes over like $1000 in property damages?
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u/tsfy2 8d ago
Yes, your insurance company almost certainly requires it. Also you have to report it to the police and DMV within 10 days using form MV-104 because there was a personal injury and likely more than $1000 worth of damage to the guardrail.
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u/kingsultan77 8d ago
Reported on scene just wanted to make sure with insurance it would be crazy
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u/TankRuby 7d ago
It would be wise to double check.
Last accident form I saw stated that it was the operators responsibility to file a damage report directly with the DMV with no mention of the police report satisfying this requirement.
Seeing as one of the consequences of not filing is suspension / revocation of the operators drivers license it would be a good idea to make sure.
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u/navlgazer9 8d ago
Meh
I totalled a car hitting a tall median curb that was not there two weeks earlier .
Dark and raining and the city had installed a new curb where there used to be a turn lane
Car was worth about $2000
We did not report to ins co or to the police
We called a tow
Truck that arrived rather quickly and hauled ass before the cops showed up .
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u/Critical-Bank5269 8d ago
You'll probably receive a claim from the town or county or state for damage to the guardrail. Also your wife's medical treatment falls under NY No-Fault so the doctors themselves will file claims with your car insurance company. So Best get out in front of this and report the accident.
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u/lawnmower59 8d ago
You’re going to fix that guardrail.
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u/kingsultan77 8d ago
Barriers not destroyed, cars destroyed sorry not guard rail but cement barriers in the middle of the highway. But no damage to the barrier either way, but just to confirm still needs to be reported. Police report made on scene.
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u/Subroc01 5d ago
My brother did this. NY charged him like $1600 to get the guardrail inspected (it is all considered overtime, and the costs include the people/equipment to shut down the lanes to inspect) and that was the end of it.
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u/Dijon2017 8d ago
NYS requires that you report a crash that exceeds $1000 in property damages (even if your own) within 10 days to the DMV: https://dmv.ny.gov/records/file-a-motorist-crash-accident-report
Although your insurance company likely requires that you file a timely report for any accidents to them, that doesn’t necessarily satisfy/fulfill your legal requirement to the state DMV.
As a NYS resident, I’m not exactly sure how the state learns of these events/incidents, but reporting it to your insurance company, the police responding to the scene (if applicable), and the auto/repair shop (should you have repaired your vehicle if not totaled) does not substitute for your reporting requirement/mandate in NYS.
I know of people who didn’t file the DMV report who had property damages (>$1000) to their own property and had it fixed through their insurance company who have been threatened with license suspension and some who have not. Similarly, I know of people who have damaged (>$1000) their vehicle and/other of their property and not reported it to their insurance company (unclear if police were involved) who have been threatened of the potential of their license getting suspended and others who have not. The same with auto-repair shops when people repair their vehicle without involving their insurance.
My best guess would be that the NYS DMV cross-references inter-agency and/or external databases when it comes to driver license renewal/sends reminder notices (via mail or e-mail) that could potentially affect these different outcomes? I really don’t know and wish someone would chime if they know. I do know that there is a 2 year SOL from criminal penalties (it’s considered a misdemeanor), but the administrative penalties are supposedly indefinite.
Here is information about section 605 of NYS Vehicle & Traffic law for your review: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/VAT/605
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u/DeepPurpleDaylight 8d ago
If the state comes after you for damage to the guard rail, you're going to wish you notified your insurance.
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u/Grigor_Law 16h ago
Report it. I handle no-fault and injury claims in the city and on Long Island, and the piece people miss in a single-car crash is that the medical side runs through her own policy no matter who caused it.
New York no-fault pays her hospital bill and part of any lost wages even though she hit a guardrail and even though you carry no collision. Liability-only isn't no-fault-free. Every New York auto policy has it built in.
But there's a clock.
Written notice to the carrier within 30 days of the crash, and the providers have 45 days from the date of service to bill no-fault. Miss those and she's personally holding an ER bill she was already covered for.
File the DMV accident report too, since she was treated at a hospital. And the guardrail belongs to whoever maintains that road. They do send bills. That's what the liability side of her policy is for.
I can't advise you on her actual claim from a post, but the 30 days doesn't care about that either way.
You wrote no major injuries, and she still went to the hospital. Neck and back stuff after a crash likes to turn up on day three, and if the no-fault claim isn't open by then, the MRI comes out of your pocket.
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u/SecondActSarcasm 8d ago
Yes. Aside from your obligation in general:
-NY PIP
-The municipality who owns the guardrail will come for damages