Uninsured Motorist Accident Lawyer in Queens, NY

Queens produces a steady volume of these claims — hit-and-runs on the service roads of Queens Boulevard and the Van Wyck, unregistered vehicles, and drivers carrying nothing more than New York's $25,000 minimum. When that happens, the case becomes a claim against your own insurer, governed by your policy rather than by tort law alone.

Which coverage applies depends on the facts:

• Uninsured Motorist (UM) — required in New York — covers collisions with an uninsured vehicle or an unidentified hit-and-run driver.
• Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (SUM) covers the shortfall when the at-fault driver's limits are too low, up to your own SUM limit.

Then there are the three rules that decide whether the claim survives at all:

• Report a hit-and-run to the police promptly — generally within 24 hours — and notify your own carrier as soon as practicable.
• Obtain the SUM carrier's written consent before settling with the at-fault driver's insurer. Signing a release first can end the SUM claim.
• Where no coverage exists anywhere, MVAIC may be available to qualified persons, with a notice of intention to make claim due within 90 days (Insurance Law § 5208).

The standard New York rules continue to apply: $50,000 in no-fault benefits with the NF-2 filed within 30 days, and the serious injury threshold of Insurance Law § 5102(d). Since most of these claims end in arbitration, ask any attorney how frequently they arbitrate SUM matters and before which forum. Court proceedings are filed in Supreme Court, Queens County, 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica. General information, not legal advice.

No retainer and no hourly rate. New York injury attorneys work on contingency — paid from the recovery, nothing if there is none. One-third of the net recovery is the customary arrangement in New York personal injury matters.

The variables:

• Settlement versus arbitration
• Case expenses: medical narratives, expert reports, transcripts, arbitration and filing fees
• Whether expenses come off before or after the fee is calculated
• Liens: no-fault, health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid
• Your SUM limit, which caps the recovery regardless of the injury
• Whether another household policy provides additional coverage

If you take one practical step from this page, make it checking your own SUM limit. It is the number that will decide a case you have not had yet. Our consultation and referral are free.

Because your own insurer is now the adversary, the forum is usually arbitration rather than a Queens jury, and a single unauthorized signature can end the claim.

• 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 Queens County.
• Continued involvement after the introduction.

Attorneys in Michael Brook's network stress the same first step after a hit-and-run: file the police report immediately and notify your own carrier in writing the same week. Those two documents are what make the UM claim provable months later.

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.