The pieces of compensation
No-fault benefits generally pay medical expenses and a portion of lost earnings up to a limit, regardless of fault. Damage to your car, and personal property that was inside it, are usually claimed separately. Against the at-fault driver, New York allows recovery for economic losses that go beyond what no-fault pays, and for pain and suffering when the injury meets the serious injury threshold. A spouse may have a claim of their own for the loss of companionship and household help. Each piece needs its own proof, and each can move at its own pace.
Proving what you lost
Car accident compensation for lost earnings depends on documents: pay stubs, tax returns, a letter from your employer, or, for the self-employed, records showing how the business slowed. Medical records should connect each injury to the crash and describe limits on what you can do. Effects on daily life are harder to show, so consistent reports to your doctors and accounts from family and coworkers help. Future costs require a doctor willing to explain them. Receipts for travel to appointments, household help, and medical equipment are easy to lose and worth keeping.
How we map it out
We start by listing every source of payment that might apply, from no-fault and the other driver's liability policy to your own underinsured coverage, health insurance, and disability benefits. Then we compare those sources with the losses you have and expect, which shows where the gaps are. Policy limits often matter as much as the injury itself. We give you a candid sense of which pieces are well supported and which need more work, without putting a number on the outcome. If you are not working because of the crash, we also look at whether short-term disability or other benefits can bridge the gap while the claim proceeds.
