New York Auto Insurance at a Glance

  • Minimum liability: 25/50/10 — $25,000 bodily injury per person / $50,000 per accident / $10,000 property damage
  • Fault system: No-fault — at least $50,000 PIP per person required on every policy
  • Mandatory UM: $25,000/$50,000 bodily injury, matching the liability floor
  • Optional SUM: up to your own BI limits, capped at $250,000/$500,000
  • Average minimum coverage: $1,821 per year
  • Average full coverage: $2,835 per year
  • Regulator: New York State Department of Financial Services

How much car insurance does New York actually require? On paper, the answer is simple: 25/50/10 liability, plus at least $50,000 in no-fault Personal Injury Protection. In practice, those numbers have sat unchanged since 1995, and a driver relying only on the legal minimum can end up with a lot less protection than the paperwork suggests.

What New York Actually Requires

Every registered vehicle in New York needs 25/50/10 liability coverage: $25,000 in bodily injury liability per person, $50,000 per accident, and $10,000 in property damage. Because New York runs a no-fault system, that same policy also has to include at least $50,000 in PIP per person, which pays your own medical bills and lost wages after a crash no matter who caused it.

Why the Minimum Hasn't Moved Since 1995

New Jersey just raised its Standard Policy minimum to 35/70/25 for 2026. New York hasn't touched its 25/50/10 floor in three decades. That gap matters: a serious injury claim or a multi-vehicle crash involving newer cars can blow past $25,000 in bodily injury liability fast, and New York law hasn't adjusted the baseline to reflect what those claims cost today.

The Gap the State Minimum Leaves Behind

New York does require Uninsured Motorist coverage matching the 25/50 bodily injury limits, so a driver hit by an uninsured motorist isn't left with nothing. But $25,000 per person doesn't go far after a serious injury, which is why insurers must offer optional SUM coverage — Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists protection that can scale up to your own liability limits, capped at $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident. Declining it saves a small amount on the premium and gives up a meaningful safety net.

What New York Drivers Actually Pay

Statewide, minimum coverage averages about $1,821 a year, with full coverage closer to $2,835. Those numbers aren't evenly spread across the state, though. New York City's traffic density, theft rates, and litigation costs pull the average up considerably, while upstate metros like Albany typically see meaningfully lower premiums for the same 25/50/10 and PIP coverage.

What to Do With That Information

  • Don't stop at 25/50/10 — it hasn't been updated since 1995 and rarely covers a serious multi-vehicle crash today.
  • Add SUM coverage if you carry higher liability limits — it's optional, but it's the coverage that actually matches an uninsured-driver claim to your own policy limits.
  • Compare quotes by region, not just statewide averages — a New York City average tells an Albany or Syracuse driver very little about their own likely premium.
  • Re-shop periodically — a policy that was competitive a few renewals ago may no longer reflect current regional pricing.

For help deciding how much coverage makes sense above the state floor, see our minimum vs. full coverage guide.

The New York State Department of Financial Services regulates every insurer licensed to sell auto policies in the state and handles consumer complaints — a useful check before signing with an unfamiliar carrier.

New York's minimum requirements are straightforward once you know them: 25/50/10 liability, $50,000 PIP, and a UM floor that's worth topping up with SUM. Shop with those numbers in hand, not just the state average premium, since where you live in New York changes that figure more than almost anything else.