For fifty years, New York had one of the most claimant-friendly fault rules in the country. That changed in 2026, but only for one category of cases. Understanding which rule applies to your claim now matters more than it ever has, because in some cases being assigned a majority of the fault no longer reduces your recovery. It eliminates it.
The General Rule: Pure Comparative Fault
Since 1975, New York has followed pure comparative negligence under CPLR § 1411. Under subsection (a), your own carelessness does not bar recovery. Your damages are simply reduced in proportion to your share of the fault.
If a jury awards $500,000 and finds you 30 percent responsible, you recover $350,000. Under the pure rule, this held true even at extreme percentages. A claimant found 95 percent at fault could still collect 5 percent of the award.
This general rule still governs most personal injury cases in New York, including slip and fall claims, construction site injuries, product liability, dog bites, nursing home neglect, and medical malpractice. If you were hurt on someone else’s property or by a defective product, pure comparative fault continues to protect you.
The 2026 Change: A Bar for Motor Vehicle Cases
Part EE of Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026 added a new subsection (b) to CPLR § 1411. In any action to recover damages for personal injury subject to Insurance Law Article 51, which is New York’s No-Fault law, a claimant’s culpable conduct now bars recovery entirely if it is greater than the culpable conduct, or the combined culpable conduct, of the parties from whom recovery is sought.
In plain terms, New York now applies a modified comparative fault rule with a 50 percent bar in covered motor vehicle cases. At 50 percent fault, you still recover half your damages. At 51 percent, you recover nothing.
The New York State Department of Financial Services confirmed the change in Insurance Circular Letter No. 3 (2026). The amendments took effect May 26, 2026, and apply to all actions and proceedings commenced on or after that date. The key date is when the lawsuit was filed, not when the crash occurred.
Which Cases Are Covered
The new bar reaches farther than driver-versus-driver claims. It applies to personal injury actions subject to Article 51, which covers people injured by the use or operation of a motor vehicle in New York. That includes passengers, pedestrians, and bicyclists struck by a car or truck.
It does not extend to claims outside the No-Fault system. If you fell on an icy sidewalk, were hurt by a defective machine, or suffered harm from a medical error, subsection (a) still applies and no percentage of fault will bar you completely.
Motorcycle claims deserve separate analysis, because New York’s No-Fault law treats motorcycles differently from other vehicles. If you were riding, speak with a motorcycle accident attorney in New York before assuming which rule governs.
Two Related Changes You Should Know About
Part EE made two other significant amendments to motor vehicle claims.
The 90/180 category is gone. The definition of serious injury in Insurance Law § 5102(d) previously included a non-permanent injury preventing someone from performing substantially all their usual daily activities for at least 90 of the 180 days following the accident. That category was deleted. Claimants must now qualify under one of the remaining definitions, which raises the bar for recovering pain and suffering damages. Our guide to how pain and suffering is calculated in New York explains the surviving categories.
Juries now decide fault first. Under amended Insurance Law § 5104(a), the trier of fact must determine who was at fault before deciding whether a serious injury exists. This sequencing change makes the fault allocation the first hurdle in every case.
A narrow $100,000 cap on non-economic damages was also added for certain at-fault claimants, including uninsured operators and drivers convicted of impaired driving or of a felony committed during the accident. The cap does not apply to wrongful death actions.
Why Fault Percentage Now Drives Everything
Insurance adjusters have always argued that claimants share responsibility. That argument now carries a much bigger payoff for them in motor vehicle cases, because pushing you above 50 percent ends the claim entirely rather than trimming the number.
This raises the stakes on evidence. Crash reconstruction, dashcam and surveillance footage, black box downloads, cell phone records, and independent witnesses all bear directly on how a jury splits responsibility. Our page on what evidence you need for a personal injury claim covers what to preserve and when. Our liability guide explains how fault gets distributed among multiple defendants, which matters under the new rule because the comparison is against the defendants’ combined conduct.
It also means recorded statements to an adjuster carry more risk than before. A casual comment about being in a hurry or not seeing the other vehicle can become the foundation of a fault argument. See dealing with insurance companies after an accident for how these conversations are used.
Talk to a New York Personal Injury Attorney
Fault allocation is now the difference between a full recovery and no recovery at all in New York motor vehicle cases. Buttafuoco & Associates has been trying these cases since 1981, and our attorneys have handled fault disputes in courtrooms across the state. Whether you need a car accident lawyer or an truck accident lawyer, contact us for a free case review. You owe no attorney’s fee unless we recover for you.