What is a third-party personal injury claim and how is it different from no-fault?
What you need to know
After a New York car accident, you have two separate legal tracks running at the same time. Understanding both is essential to getting every dollar you are owed.
First-Party No-Fault Benefits
Your own insurer pays your medical bills and a portion of lost wages up to the limits set by Insurance Law §5102. This happens regardless of fault. You must file the no-fault application within 30 days of the accident.
Third-Party Lawsuit
A third-party claim is filed against the driver, property owner, employer, or other entity whose negligence caused your harm. To bring this claim after a car accident, your injuries must clear the serious injury threshold under Insurance Law §5102(d) — fractures, permanent limitation, significant disfigurement, or the 90/180-day disability rule.
A successful third-party claim can recover:
- Pain and suffering — past and future
- Lost earnings beyond no-fault limits
- Future medical expenses not covered by no-fault
- Loss of consortium for a spouse or domestic partner
Other Third-Party Contexts
Third-party claims are not limited to car accidents. Construction workers injured on a job site can bring third-party claims against property owners and general contractors under Labor Law §240 (Scaffold Law) and §241, even while collecting workers' compensation. Premises liability, dog bite, and product liability cases are also third-party claims.
The deadline to file is three years from the date of injury under CPLR 214. No fee unless we win.
Other ways we help
Same firm, same approach — different practice areas under one roof.
Workers’ Compensation
Injured at work. Lost wages. Denied benefits.
Learn more →Social Security Disability
Can’t work due to a disability. SSDI & SSI claims, denials, appeals.
Learn more →Long-Term Disability
Private LTD insurance denied or cut off. ERISA appeals.
Learn more →Personal Injury
Car accident. Construction site. Scaffold Law.
Learn more →Workers’ Rights
Retaliation, wage theft, harassment. Plaintiff-side only.
Learn more →The attorneys who work your case
Not a call centre. The lawyer who signs you is the lawyer who shows up.
Brian M. Mittman, Esq.
Managing Partner · Markhoff & Mittman, P.C.
Call 866-205-2415 Schedule with Brian- Admitted in New York
- 30+ years in practice
- Attends Board hearings personally
Brian has personally handled New York workers' compensation, SSDI, and personal-injury cases for over three decades. Your case is never handed off to a paralegal.
- Admitted in New York and New Jersey
- Pace University School of Law, J.D.
- Litigates before the Workers' Compensation Board
Randy has litigated every type of claim before the Workers' Compensation Board on behalf of hundreds of claimants.
- Admitted in New York, 2008
- New York Law School, J.D. 2007
- With The Disability Guys since 2013
Benai has spent more than a decade fighting for injured workers before the Workers' Compensation Board and the New York State Employees' Retirement Board.
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