Aisha's Insurance Decision
Aisha is a 34-year-old marketing manager from Dallas who drove her own car to New York for a two-week work assignment. Her Texas policy carries 50/100/50 liability, $2,500 of PIP (she never rejected it), UM/UIM and collision. On day four, a delivery van ran a red light in Queens and T-boned her car. She fractured her collarbone, ran up $26,000 in medical bills and missed five weeks of work. Back home, a friend told her Texas is an at-fault state, so the van's insurer should pay everything. A New York colleague said New York is no-fault, so she should file with her own insurer within 30 days.
Key Vulnerabilities & Financial Exposures
Missing New York's 30-day no-fault application deadline while assuming Texas rules apply, which could lose her the first-party medical and wage benefits.
Lost wages beyond New York's cap of $2,000 a month and medical costs above the no-fault limit must come from the van's commercial liability insurer through a serious-injury claim.
If her insurer isn't licensed in New York or her policy lacks an out-of-state conformity clause, her only fault-free coverage would be her $2,500 Texas PIP plus health insurance.
Recommended Risk-Transfer Blueprint
Call her Texas insurer straight away, confirm the out-of-state no-fault conformity coverage, and get New York no-fault (NF-2) paperwork filed within 30 days.
File an MV-104 accident report with the New York DMV within 10 days and request the police report naming the van driver.
Open a bodily injury claim against the van owner's commercial auto insurer for pain and suffering and losses above no-fault, since the fracture meets New York's serious-injury threshold, and use her own collision coverage to fix the car while her insurer recovers the cost through subrogation.
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