Long Island Car Accident Attorney

Work directly with Jordan Stern

The other driver's insurer began building its file on your claim within days of the crash. It helps to have someone doing the same on your side.

Attorney Jordan Stern handles your case personally — the first phone call, the negotiation, and the resolution. He has represented injured New Yorkers for over 30 years. From the office on West Merrick Road in Freeport, Jordan represents clients throughout Nassau and Suffolk County, including people injured on the Southern State and Meadowbrook Parkways, Sunrise Highway, Merrick Road, and neighborhood streets across Long Island.

The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we recover money for you.

Is New York a no-fault state?

Yes, and it shapes everything about how a car accident claim works here.

Your own insurer pays your initial medical bills regardless of who caused the collision, up to a total of $50,000 per person in basic no-fault benefits. Those benefits cover reasonable medical treatment, 80% of lost earnings up to $2,000 per month for as long as three years, and up to $25 a day for other necessary expenses such as travel to appointments.

If you were a pedestrian or a bicyclist, the no-fault benefits generally come from the insurer of the vehicle that struck you rather than from a policy of your own.

No-fault does not pay for pain and suffering. That claim is separate, it is made against the at-fault driver, and it is available only if your injury meets the standard described below.

No-fault also runs on short timelines. Written notice of the claim is generally due to the insurer within 30 days of the accident. The NF-2 application is the usual way to give that notice, but it is the notice the 30 days attaches to, not the form — other written notice, including an MV-104 police report, can satisfy it, so a late NF-2 is not by itself fatal. Proof of claim then follows on its own clocks: medical bills within 45 days of treatment, and lost earnings claims within 90 days. (11 NYCRR Part 65)

If one of those dates has already passed, it is still worth calling. A late filing may be accepted where there is clear and reasonable justification for the delay, and that argument is far easier to make with an attorney than without one.

What counts as a "serious injury" in New York?

To recover for pain and suffering from the driver who caused the crash, New York requires you to meet the serious injury threshold. The statute lists specific categories, including:

• Death or dismemberment
• A fracture
• Significant disfigurement
• 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

Insurance Law § 5102(d)

This list changed in 2026. An amendment removed the 90/180-day category — the one covering an injury that kept you from your normal activities for 90 of the 180 days after a crash — and pushed the threshold further toward objective medical proof. Claims that would once have qualified on that basis now have to fit one of the remaining categories.

This threshold is where most car accident claims are won or lost. A neck or back injury can meet it — but proving it takes objective medical findings and a consistent, well-documented course of treatment. Gaps in care are the first thing a defense attorney looks for, which is why the medical record matters from the very first week.

How long do I have to file?

• Three years to bring a personal injury lawsuit (CPLR § 214)
• Two years for a wrongful death claim
• 90 days to serve a notice of claim when a government vehicle is involved — a town bus, a sanitation truck, a police vehicle — with the lawsuit generally due within one year and 90 days, and a sworn pre-suit hearing often required in between (General Municipal Law §§ 50-e, 50-h, 50-i)

The municipal deadline is the one that catches people. It can expire before someone has finished physical therapy, and most drivers have no idea it applies to them.

What if the other driver had no insurance, or left the scene?

Two options are frequently overlooked, and both are time-sensitive.

Supplementary underinsured motorist coverage (SUM). If the at-fault driver's policy is too small to cover your injuries — and New York's minimum liability limits are low — SUM coverage on your own policy may make up the difference, if you purchased it.

One trap matters enormously here. Before you accept the at-fault driver's policy limits, your own SUM carrier must be given written notice and the opportunity to consent. It then has 30 days either to consent or to advance you that amount and take over the claim. Sign a release before that process plays out and you can lose the SUM claim entirely. (11 NYCRR § 60-2.3)

Hit-and-run and uninsured drivers. Uninsured motorist coverage is built into every New York auto policy, and where the at-fault driver is never identified, a claim through MVAIC may also be available. Both carry their own notice requirements, and a hit-and-run generally needs to be reported to police right away. These claims are unforgiving about early paperwork, which is another reason not to handle them alone.

What if I was partly at fault?

This is the other thing that changed in 2026, and it matters more than almost anything else on this page.

New York used to apply pure comparative negligence to every claim: sharing the blame reduced your recovery by your percentage of fault and nothing more. A 2026 amendment created an exception for personal injury actions subject to the no-fault law — which is what an ordinary car accident claim is. In those cases, if your share of the fault is greater than that of the party you are suing — or, where more than one party is sued, greater than their combined share, you recover nothing from that party at all — not pain and suffering, and not the economic losses no-fault does not cover. Your own no-fault benefits are separate and are paid regardless of fault. (CPLR § 1411(b), effective May 29, 2026) Fault is also decided first, before a jury considers whether an injury meets the threshold at all.

The exception is narrow. It does not reach every claim that happens to involve a vehicle, and pure comparative negligence still governs elsewhere.

Sharing some of the blame still does not bar a claim — 20% responsible still means recovering 80%. But an argument that used to cost a percentage can now end a case, which makes proof of how the collision actually happened decisive rather than merely helpful.

One qualification worth asking about: the rule applies to cases begun on or after it took effect. A claim already in suit before then may be governed by the older rule.

Not wearing a seatbelt may affect the value of a claim. It does not end it.

Riders are the exception to much of this — motorcyclists sit outside the no-fault system entirely and face no serious injury threshold.

What the free consultation involves

You speak with Jordan directly. He will ask what happened, what injuries you have, what treatment you have had, and what the insurance company has said to you so far. He will tell you honestly whether you have a claim worth pursuing. It takes a few minutes, it costs nothing, and you are under no obligation afterward.

Two things to avoid before that call: giving the other driver's insurer a recorded statement, and accepting an early settlement offer. Early offers arrive precisely because the full extent of an injury is not yet known, and a signed release ends the claim — including for treatment you may need later.

How the case is built

Establishing liability and documenting the full extent of an injury generally involves obtaining the police report and scene photographs, securing traffic and business surveillance footage before it is overwritten, interviewing witnesses, collecting complete medical records, and consulting treating physicians about prognosis and future care. Valuing the claim means accounting for future treatment and lost earning capacity, not only the bills already received.

Every case is prepared as though it will be tried.

About Jordan Stern

Jordan is a graduate of Syracuse University College of Law. He served with the New York State Attorney General's office before joining his father's practice, a firm that has represented injured New Yorkers for over 30 years. He moved the office from Mineola to Freeport and added Spanish-speaking staff to serve the surrounding communities.

Se habla español. Our staff can assist Spanish-speaking clients by phone and in the office.

Common questions

Speak with Jordan Stern

If you were injured in a car accident anywhere on Long Island, the consultation is free and the conversation is confidential.

Stern & Stern · 49 West Merrick Road, Freeport, NY 11520
516-634-0345 · jstern@jordansternlaw.com · Se habla español

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