By Paul Della · Licensed Insurance Agent · The Della Agency
Buying the state minimum feels like checking the box — you're legal, you're covered, done. But New York's minimum was set in 1995 and hasn't moved since, and it can leave you personally on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars. Here's exactly what it covers, where it fails, and what to carry instead.
New York's minimum car insurance is 25/50/10 liability ($25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident, $10,000 property damage), plus $50,000 in no-fault (PIP) and uninsured-motorist coverage. It's legal, but it usually isn't enough: those limits have been frozen since 1995, and a single serious injury or a totaled modern vehicle can exceed them fast — leaving you to pay the difference. For most New York drivers, higher liability (often 100/300/100), SUM coverage, and an umbrella policy are the safer baseline.
Buying the state minimum feels like the responsible thing — you're following the law, you're insured, box checked. And technically that's true. But “legal” and “protected” aren't the same thing, and in New York the gap between them is wide. The minimum coverage the state asks for was written in 1995 and hasn't changed since, even as the cost of a serious accident has climbed for three decades.
This guide breaks the minimum down honestly: what 25/50/10 actually means number by number, the two required coverages people forget are part of it, exactly where the minimum leaves you exposed, whether New York is finally about to raise it, and what most drivers should carry instead. We're a licensed New York agency, and this is the conversation we'd rather have with you before a claim than after.
What Is New York's Minimum Car Insurance — and What Does 25/50/10 Mean?
The short answer: the minimum is 25/50/10 liability plus $50,000 of no-fault (PIP) and uninsured-motorist coverage — three mandatory pieces, not just one.
Most people hear “minimum coverage” and picture liability alone. In New York, per the New York DMV, the mandatory minimum is actually three coverages. The one written as 25/50/10 is liability, and those numbers are limits in thousands of dollars: $25,000 for bodily injury to one person, $50,000 for bodily injury to everyone in one accident, and $10,000 for property damage you cause. On top of that, the state requires $50,000 of no-fault (PIP), which pays your own medical bills regardless of fault, and uninsured-motorist coverage, which protects you against drivers with no insurance.
Here's the key thing to sit with: those liability numbers are caps. If you cause an accident and the costs run higher than the cap, your insurer pays up to the limit and stops — and the rest lands on you. That's the whole reason the size of the number matters so much.
| The number | What it caps | Where it falls short |
|---|---|---|
| 25 — $25,000 | Bodily injury, per person | One ER visit + surgery can exceed it |
| 50 — $50,000 | Bodily injury, per accident | Splits across everyone hurt |
| 10 — $10,000 | Property damage you cause | Won't total a modern SUV |
| PIP — $50,000 | Your own medical bills, any fault | Serious injuries exhaust it |
| UM — required | If an uninsured driver hits you | Doesn't cover underinsured drivers |
Why Isn't New York's Minimum Enough?
The short answer: the limits were set in 1995 and never adjusted, while accident costs kept rising — so today's “minimum” protects against a world that no longer exists.
Freeze a dollar figure for thirty years and inflation quietly guts it. A $25,000 injury cap meant a lot more in 1995 than it does now, when a single serious injury — surgery, a hospital stay, rehab, lost income — can run well into six figures. New York also carries one of the highest average auto-injury claim severities in the country, according to the Insurance Information Institute, which means the claims that do happen here tend to be expensive ones.
The result is a floor that's easy to breach. And when you breach it as the at-fault driver, the shortfall doesn't disappear — the injured party can come after your assets: savings, wages, even home equity. The minimum protects you from a ticket, not from a lawsuit. That distinction is the entire point of carrying more.
The injury gap: you cause a crash that seriously hurts another driver, and their medical bills and lost wages total $150,000. Your 25/50 liability pays $25,000 — and you're personally responsible for the remaining ~$125,000. The property gap: you rear-end a late-model SUV and total it at $45,000. Your $10,000 property-damage limit covers less than a quarter, and the other $35,000 is yours to cover. (Figures are illustrative — real claims vary — but both gaps are exactly how minimum-limit drivers get hurt financially.)
Where Exactly Does Minimum Coverage Leave You Exposed?
The short answer: anywhere a real accident costs more than a 1995 cap — which today is most serious ones, especially on property damage and injuries.
The property-damage limit is the one drivers most underestimate. Ten thousand dollars sounds fine until you remember what's on the road: the average new vehicle costs far more than that, and totaling someone's late-model truck or SUV can easily run three to five times the $10,000 cap. It's a small-looking number attached to a very common, very real risk.
Injuries are the bigger financial danger. Between emergency care, surgery, rehabilitation, and lost wages, a single seriously injured person can generate a claim that dwarfs $25,000 — and if more than one person is hurt, the $50,000 per-accident cap gets divided among them. New York's no-fault system helps by covering your own injuries first, but it doesn't protect your assets from what you owe others when you're at fault. That's what liability limits are for, and the minimum sets them low.
Are New York's Minimums Going to Change?
The short answer: maybe — there's active legislation to raise them, but as of 2026 the 25/50/10 minimum still applies.
New York's lawmakers have noticed the floor is dated. Assembly Bill A5053, introduced in the 2025–2026 legislative session, would raise the minimums significantly: bodily injury from $25,000 to $50,000 per person and from $50,000 to $100,000 per accident, and property damage from $10,000 to $25,000. That would roughly double the liability floor and more than double the property-damage minimum.
Two things to keep in mind. First, the bill has not passed — the current 25/50/10 limits remain in effect, and nothing changes for you unless and until it becomes law. Second, and more to the point: if lawmakers themselves consider $25,000 too low to protect people, that's a strong signal you probably shouldn't rely on it either. You don't have to wait for the state to raise the floor to raise your own.
Want the bigger picture? Our full New York car insurance guide covers how no-fault works, why premiums run high, and how to lower them — with the minimums as one piece of the whole.
How Do Other Drivers' Minimum Policies Put You at Risk?
The short answer: plenty of New York drivers carry only 25/50, so if one of them seriously injures you, their thin policy — not your careful planning — caps your recovery, unless you carry SUM.
Here's the twist most drivers miss: the minimum doesn't just expose you when you're at fault — it exposes you to everyone else carrying it. If a driver with a $25,000 limit causes a crash that seriously injures you, $25,000 may be all their policy will ever pay, no matter what your actual costs are. Required uninsured-motorist coverage protects you against drivers with no insurance, but not against drivers who are merely underinsured.
That's what supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist (SUM) coverage is for. It steps in when the at-fault driver's limit runs out, up to your own limit — so the other person's bare-minimum policy doesn't become your financial loss. In a state where so many drivers carry only the minimum, SUM is one of the highest-value, lowest-cost add-ons available, and one of the first we recommend.
What Coverage Should You Carry Instead?
The short answer: higher liability sized to what you own — often 100/300/100 — plus adequate PIP, SUM, and an umbrella policy if you have assets to protect.
The goal isn't to buy the most coverage possible; it's to close the gap between “legal” and “protected.” For most drivers that means raising liability well above the floor, adding SUM, keeping no-fault at a level that reflects real medical costs, and — if you own a home or have savings — layering an umbrella policy on top for another tier of protection. The reassuring part: moving up from the minimum often costs far less than people assume, because the first dollars of liability coverage are the most expensive; raising the limit is comparatively cheap.
| Coverage | New York minimum | A stronger baseline |
|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury, per person | $25,000 | $100,000 |
| Bodily injury, per accident | $50,000 | $300,000 |
| Property damage | $10,000 | $100,000 |
| No-fault (PIP) | $50,000 | Raise if available |
| SUM (underinsured) | Not required | Add it |
| Umbrella | None | If you have assets |
None of this means over-buying. It means matching your coverage to what you'd actually lose in a bad accident, rather than to a number the state last updated when gas was about a dollar a gallon. A quick review with a licensed agent is the cleanest way to find the right limits for your situation.
Retired and rethinking your coverage? Our guide to car insurance for Long Island seniors shows how to right-size limits once your driving changes.
The Bottom Line on New York's Minimum Coverage
New York's minimum car insurance — 25/50/10 liability plus $50,000 no-fault and uninsured-motorist coverage — will keep you legal and let you register your car. What it won't reliably do is protect what you own, because the limits were set in 1995 and a serious accident today can blow right past them, leaving the shortfall on you.
You don't need to buy everything, and you don't have to wait for the state to raise the floor. Raise liability to a level that reflects what you'd actually lose, add SUM so another driver's thin policy isn't your problem, keep no-fault realistic, and consider an umbrella if you have assets — usually for less of a premium difference than you'd expect. If you're not sure where your limits stand, our team will review your policy for free and show you exactly where the minimum leaves you exposed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Per the New York DMV, every registered vehicle must carry 25/50/10 liability ($25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident, $10,000 property damage), $50,000 in no-fault (PIP), and uninsured-motorist coverage. People often think “minimum” means just liability, but PIP and uninsured-motorist are mandatory too — the state won't let you register a car without all three.
It's shorthand for your liability limits in thousands of dollars: $25,000 for bodily injury to one person, $50,000 for bodily injury to everyone in a single accident, and $10,000 for property damage you cause. If your at-fault accident produces costs above any of those figures, you — not your insurer — are responsible for the difference. Those numbers haven't changed since 1995.
For most drivers, no. The 25/50/10 limits have been frozen since 1995 while medical, repair, and vehicle costs have climbed for three decades, and New York has one of the highest average auto-injury claim severities in the country. A single serious injury or a totaled modern SUV can blow past these limits easily, leaving you personally on the hook. If you own a home or have savings, the minimum leaves too much of what you own exposed.
There's pressure to. Assembly Bill A5053, introduced in the 2025–2026 legislative session, would raise the bodily-injury minimum from $25,000 to $50,000 per person and $50,000 to $100,000 per accident, and property damage from $10,000 to $25,000. As of 2026 it has not passed, so the existing 25/50/10 limits still apply — but the proposal signals that even lawmakers consider today's floor too low.
For most drivers, meaningfully higher liability — many agents suggest 100/300/100 as a more realistic baseline — plus adequate no-fault (PIP), supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist (SUM) coverage, and often an umbrella policy if you have assets to protect. The right limits depend on what you have to lose, not on hitting the legal floor. A licensed agent can size it to your situation for often less of a premium difference than people expect.
See Where Your Coverage Actually Stands
Carrying the minimum — or not sure what you've got? Our team will review your limits against what you'd actually lose in a serious accident, flag the gaps, and show you what stronger coverage would cost. Free, no obligation.
✓ Last reviewed by the Della Agency team on . We refresh our guides quarterly — New York coverage rules, limits, and legislation change.
This guide is general information, not coverage or legal advice. Requirements and limits depend on your policy and can change — confirm current rules with the New York DMV and your insurer. Assembly Bill A5053 is proposed legislation and had not become law as of publication; figures in examples are illustrative, not quotes.
Written and reviewed by the Della Agency team — licensed New York insurance professionals based at 1135 Deer Park Ave, North Babylon, serving drivers across New York and 10+ states. Figures here are drawn from the named sources cited above — the New York DMV, the New York State Department of Financial Services, the Insurance Information Institute, and the New York State Senate (Assembly Bill A5053) — and reviewed quarterly. NY license #[insert].