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New York State Insurance Requirements for New Car Buyers

new york state insurance requirementsBuying a new car can be very stressful.

The car you actually want is never the car that you can easily afford.  So we spend entire weekends driving from car dealer to car dealer looking for the best price on the car we want.  It can be exhausting.

What shouldn’t be exhausting is purchasing car insurance.

This following in the quick rundown of the New York State Insurance Requirements for new car buyers.

1) Every New York car insurance policy must contain at least $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident in at-fault liability insurance.  This is mandated by New York State.  You cannot get around this.

Honestly though, you shouldn’t want to carry any less in coverage.  $25,000 per person may be the minimum that New York State insurance requirements force you to have but it doesn’t mean that you are properly covered.

2) Every New York car insurance policy must contain at least $50,000 in personal injury protection coverage or No-Fault liability insurance.  Again this is a mandated coverage by the state of New York.

Personal injury protection or No-Fault liability insurance pays medical expenses, lost wages and rehabilitation for everyone in your car regardless of who is at-fault in the accident.  The maximum amount of personal injury protection available in New York State is $150,000 per person.

3) Every New York car insurance policy must contain at least $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident in under-insured and uninsured motorist liability insurance.

Uninsured motorist liability insurance protects you and the people in your car against NY drivers who either do not carry enough car insurance or do not carry any car insurance at all.  If the driver that hits you has the New York State minimum insurance requirements for car insurance it’s important you ensure that everyone in your car is taken care of.  The New York State insurance requirement for uninsured motorist coverage is very important.

Physical damage coverage is NOT a New York State insurance requirement.

Did you notice that I didn’t mention comprehensive coverage or collision coverage (often referred to as Full Coverage)?

First, there is no such thing as full coverage.  That is slang and a very serious misnomer, meaning the term full coverage infers that everything is covered and there is no such NY car insurance policy that covers everything that could happen to your car.

Second, as a new car buyer you choose whether you’d like to purchase physical damage coverage, it is not mandated by the state of New York.

Your bank will mostly likely mandate you have these coverages if you’re taking out a loan, but this is NOT a New York State insurance requirement.

The Insurance Takeaway

New car buyers in New York State need to make sure they’re purchasing coverage that at least meets the requirements understanding that physical damage protection often referred as Full Coverage is not a requirement.

The easiest way to make sure you have the proper car insurance coverage to suit your need as a new car buyer is call an independent insurance agent.

We would like to be your agent.  Give us a call at (518) 456-6688 or click here to start by email and one of our NY car insurance specialists will make the process of purchasing a car insurance policy easy and painless.

Thank you,

Ryan Hanley