What Uninsured Motorist Coverage Protects
Uninsured motorist coverage pays your medical bills, lost wages, and pain-and-suffering damages when another driver causes an accident and has no insurance or flees the scene. New York requires this coverage on every auto policy at minimum limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. The coverage follows each vehicle on your policy and protects every occupant in that vehicle at the time of the crash.
This matters for multi-car households because the per-person limit applies separately to each occupant across all your vehicles. If three family members are injured in one of your cars, each person can claim up to the per-person limit, but the total payout for that one accident cannot exceed the per-accident cap. The coverage does not pool across your household's vehicles as a single shared limit.
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Get Your Free QuoteNew York Uninsured Motorists
8.6%
Nearly one in twelve drivers on New York roads carries no insurance. Uninsured motorist coverage is your financial backstop when one of them causes a crash and cannot pay your damages.
Insurance Information Institute, 2023
How the Per-Person and Per-Accident Limits Work
The $25,000 per person limit is the maximum the policy pays for one individual's injuries in a single accident. The $50,000 per accident limit is the maximum the policy pays for all injuries combined in that same accident, regardless of how many people were hurt.
Many households assume the per-accident limit multiplies across their vehicles. It does not. Each vehicle on your policy carries its own uninsured motorist coverage, but the limits apply per accident, not per household. If two of your cars are involved in separate accidents on the same day, each accident is covered up to the policy limits. If both cars are hit in the same accident, the limits apply once to that single event.
You can purchase higher limits than the state minimum. Compare the premium difference across carriers that write multi-car policies in New York.
The per-accident cap applies once per crash, not once per vehicle. Two cars in one accident share one set of limits.
When Uninsured Motorist Coverage Pays
The coverage pays when an at-fault driver has no liability insurance at all. This includes drivers who let their policy lapse, drivers who never bought insurance, and drivers using a vehicle not listed on any policy. It also pays when the at-fault driver flees the scene and cannot be identified, commonly called a hit-and-run. New York law treats an unidentified driver as uninsured for coverage purposes.
Underinsured motorist coverage, which New York also requires at the same minimum limits, pays when the at-fault driver has liability insurance but the limits are too low to cover your damages. The two coverages work together to fill the gap between what the at-fault driver can pay and what you actually lost.
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What Uninsured Motorist Coverage Does Not Pay
Uninsured motorist coverage does not pay for vehicle damage in New York. It covers only bodily injury: medical expenses, lost wages, rehabilitation costs, and pain and suffering. If an uninsured driver totals your car, uninsured motorist coverage does not repair or replace it. Collision coverage pays for vehicle damage regardless of who caused the accident, and that is the coverage you file against when an uninsured driver damages your car.
The coverage does not pay when you are at fault. It protects you from other drivers' negligence, not your own. It also does not pay when the other driver has valid liability insurance that covers your damages in full. The at-fault driver's liability policy pays first; uninsured motorist coverage is secondary and pays only when the at-fault driver has no insurance or insufficient insurance.
Uninsured motorist coverage does not extend to intentional acts. If someone deliberately rams your vehicle, that is an intentional tort, not a covered accident. It also does not cover injuries sustained while you are occupying a vehicle you do not own and that is not listed on your policy, unless you are a named insured or resident relative covered under the policy's definition of insured persons.
New York Minimum UM Limits
$25,000 / $50,000
New York requires uninsured motorist coverage at the same limits as the state's minimum liability requirement: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. You can purchase higher limits to better protect your household.
New York State Department of Financial Services
Structuring UM Coverage Across Multiple Vehicles
Every vehicle on your New York policy must carry uninsured motorist coverage at least at the state minimum. You cannot decline it, and you cannot carry it on one vehicle but not another. The coverage is mandatory and applies to each car you insure. When you add a vehicle to your policy, the carrier automatically applies the same uninsured motorist limits you selected for your other vehicles unless you request different limits at the time of addition.
Households with multiple vehicles should consider whether the state minimum limits adequately protect all occupants. A family of four in one car, all injured in a crash with an uninsured driver, faces the $50,000 per-accident cap regardless of total medical bills.
Compare Carriers and Adjust Your Limits
Uninsured motorist coverage is priced as a percentage of your liability premium. Raising the limits costs more, but the incremental cost is typically smaller than the incremental protection. Carriers that write multi-car policies in New York include Allstate, Geico, Progressive, State Farm, Travelers, and USAA. Each prices uninsured motorist coverage differently, and the premium difference between minimum limits and higher limits varies by carrier.
Compare the total premium for all vehicles on your policy, not just the per-vehicle cost. The multi-car discount applies to the entire policy, and the uninsured motorist premium is part of that calculation. A carrier with a slightly higher base rate but a larger multi-car discount may deliver better total-household value than a carrier with a lower base rate and a smaller discount.