Suffering a serious injury can be a life-altering experience. If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. However, in New York, there is a legal threshold that must be met in order to recover damages for pain and suffering in car accident cases. This is known as the “serious injury threshold.” In this article, we’ll discuss what the serious injury threshold is, how it affects your personal injury case, and how the Bulldog Law Group can help you overcome it.
What Is the Serious Injury Threshold?
The serious injury threshold is a legal requirement in New York that must be met in order to recover non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, in a personal injury case involving motor vehicles. In other words, if you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you can only recover compensation for pain and suffering if your injuries meet the serious injury threshold.
The serious injury threshold is defined in New York Insurance Law § 5102(d). Under this law, a serious injury is one that meets one or more of the following criteria:
- Death
- Dismemberment
- Significant disfigurement
- Fracture
- Loss of a fetus
- Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system
- Permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member
- Significant limitation of use of a body function or system
- Medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute such person’s usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment
How Does the Serious Injury Threshold Affect Your Personal Injury Case?
If your injuries meet the serious injury threshold, you may be entitled to recover non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, in addition to economic damages, such as medical expenses and lost wages. However, if your injuries do not meet the serious injury threshold, you may only be able to recover economic damages (simply put, you lose most if not all of the case, regardless of your claims).
Case Law
Recent cases have discussed the difficult burden of satisfying this law. In Chung v. State, 70 Misc. 3d 775, 786, 137 N.Y.S.3d 634, 644 (N.Y. Ct. Cl. 2020), the Court discussed that claimants must submit objective expert evidence showing that their injuries satisfy the serious injury threshold; medical opinions based upon a claimant’s subjective complaints alone are not enough. See Toure v. Avis Rent A Car Sys., 98 N.Y.2d 345, 350, 746 N.Y.S.2d 865, 774 N.E.2d 1197 [2002]. Additionally, claimants are required to produce nonconclusory expert evidence that the injury was causally related to the motor vehicle accident, rather than some other cause or a preexisting condition. If there is another plausible cause of the injury, such as a prior accident or a naturally occurring degenerative condition, it is claimant’s burden to show that the accident was a substantial factor in causing the injury. See Gayle v. City of New York, 92 N.Y.2d 936, 937, 680 N.Y.S.2d 900, 703 N.E.2d 758 [1998].
How Can the Bulldog Law Group Help You Overcome the Serious Injury Threshold?
If your injuries do not meet the serious injury threshold, it may be difficult to recover non-economic damages in your personal injury case. However, the Bulldog Law Group has experience in overcoming the serious injury threshold and can help you recover the compensation you deserve.
Our team of experienced attorneys will thoroughly investigate your case and work to establish that your injuries do meet the serious injury threshold. We will gather medical records, witness statements, and other evidence to build a strong case on your behalf. We will also work with medical experts to determine the full extent of your injuries and how they have impacted your life.
We understand that a serious injury can have a significant impact on your life. That’s why we are committed to fighting for your rights and helping you recover the compensation you deserve. We offer free initial consultations and work on a contingency fee basis, which means that you do not pay us anything unless we recover compensation for you.
Contact the Bulldog Law Group Today
If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence and are concerned about the serious injury threshold, don’t hesitate to contact the Bulldog Law Group. Our experienced attorneys will evaluate your medical records and help you determine the strength of your case. Call us today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can help you overcome the serious injury threshold.