Underinsured Uninsured Motorist Accident Lawyer in Long Island, NY

High-speed roads and minimum-limits policies are a bad combination, and on Long Island it is a common one. A collision on the Long Island Expressway or Sunrise Highway produces injuries that exhaust New York's $25,000 minimum liability coverage before the first surgery is billed — and then the claim shifts to your own policy.

Two coverages matter:

• Uninsured Motorist (UM), mandatory in New York, applies when the at-fault vehicle carried no insurance or fled and was never identified.
• Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (SUM) applies when the at-fault driver had coverage but not enough, paying the difference up to your SUM limit.

And three rules decide whether the claim survives:

• Prompt police reporting of a hit-and-run — generally within 24 hours — and notice to your own insurer as soon as practicable.
• Written consent from the SUM carrier before you settle with the at-fault driver's insurer. Without it, accepting the tortfeasor's limits can extinguish the SUM claim.
• Where there is no policy at all, MVAIC may apply to qualified persons, with a notice of intention to make claim required within 90 days under Insurance Law § 5208.

The ordinary framework still governs: $50,000 in no-fault benefits with the NF-2 due within 30 days, and the serious injury threshold of Insurance Law § 5102(d). Most SUM claims are resolved in arbitration rather than at trial, which rewards a very specific kind of experience. Court proceedings are filed in Supreme Court, Nassau County (Mineola) or Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Riverhead). General information, not legal advice.

Nothing upfront and nothing hourly. New York injury attorneys handle these claims on contingency — a percentage of what is recovered, nothing if there is no recovery. One-third of the net recovery is the customary arrangement in New York personal injury matters.

What determines the net:

• Whether the claim settles or proceeds to arbitration
• Case expenses: medical narratives, expert reports, deposition and arbitration transcripts, filing and arbitration fees
• Whether expenses are deducted before or after the fee
• Liens to no-fault, health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid
• Your SUM limit, which is the ceiling on the recovery
• Whether more than one household policy can be stacked or reached

Because the SUM limit caps everything, it is worth confirming your declarations page now rather than after a collision. Our consultation and referral cost nothing.

Because a serious injury combined with a minimum-limits driver means the case is really about your own coverage — and the consent, notice and arbitration rules that govern it.

• Free consultation; the referral costs you nothing.
• Available 24/7 at (800) 669-0060.
• English, Spanish, and Russian.
• Over 30 years matching injured people with attorneys across New York and New Jersey.
• Local case experience in Nassau and Suffolk.
• Continued involvement after the introduction.

Attorneys in Michael Brook's network repeat one instruction in every underinsured case: send the SUM carrier written notice as soon as it becomes clear the at-fault policy is inadequate, and never sign a release before the carrier consents in writing.

Disclaimer: Michael Brook Attorney Referral is not a law firm and provides no legal representation or legal advice. This is general information and does not replace advice from a licensed attorney about your specific situation. No result is guaranteed.