DESIGNER MOCKUP · amparolawfirm.com homepage · brand tokens locked · placeholder photography

Free Case Evaluation

You were injured in an accident. The other driver fled the scene, or had no insurance, or had insurance that denied coverage for fraud or other reasons. You think there’s no recovery available.

You may be wrong.

The Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation — known as MVAIC — is a New York fund that pays accident victims when no insurance is available. It is not well-known to the public. Most accident victims who would qualify don’t know it exists. This guide explains what MVAIC is, who qualifies, how to file, what’s covered, and the deadlines you absolutely cannot miss.

MVAIC is a not-for-profit corporation created by New York statute and funded by a portion of every auto insurance policy sold in the state. Its mission is to compensate accident victims when otherwise no insurance is available — typically in hit-and-run cases, accidents involving uninsured drivers, and accidents where the at-fault driver’s insurance was disclaimed for fraud or material misrepresentation.

MVAIC is not your insurance company. It is a public-purpose fund of last resort.

You may have an MVAIC claim if:

There are exceptions and complications. Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists hit by hit-and-run drivers typically qualify. Passengers in uninsured vehicles may qualify. Specific facts matter.

MVAIC provides coverage similar to standard auto liability and PIP coverage:

MVAIC does not provide coverage for property damage in most cases — its focus is bodily injury.

MVAIC has its own deadline that runs alongside any other deadlines in your case: a “Notice of Intention to Make Claim” must be filed with MVAIC within 90 days of the accident in hit-and-run cases. (Other deadlines apply for uninsured-driver cases — typically 90 days after the determination that the driver is uninsured, but the rules are technical.)

Missing the MVAIC notice deadline can be fatal to the claim. The 90-day clock runs from the date of the accident. Document everything immediately — police report, witness contact info, medical records — and file the notice before the clock expires.

The most common MVAIC scenarios are hit-and-run accidents. Specific elements need to be established:

  1. Physical contact between the unidentified vehicle and the claimant, or another vehicle in which the claimant was traveling. (For some claims, this requirement has been litigated and the case law is technical — call us to discuss specifics.)
  2. Reasonable efforts to identify the at-fault driver — including a police report filed promptly.
  3. No identification possible despite those efforts.
  4. Compliance with all MVAIC procedural requirements, including the 90-day Notice of Intention.

We handle hit-and-run cases regularly. If you were a victim of a hit-and-run, call us — even if the driver was never found.

If the at-fault driver was uninsured at the time of the accident — or had insurance that was disclaimed for fraud, material misrepresentation, or other reasons — MVAIC may step in. The procedural path differs from a hit-and-run case, and the determination of whether the at-fault driver’s insurance is “really uninsured” sometimes involves litigation against the insurance carrier first.

This is technical work. Don’t try to handle it on your own.

If you have your own auto insurance with Uninsured Motorist (UM) or Supplementary Underinsured Motorist (SUM) coverage, that coverage usually applies before MVAIC. Your own UM/UIM is generally primary; MVAIC is the fund of last resort.

If you have a substantial UM/UIM policy on your own auto coverage, the MVAIC question may be moot. But many New York drivers carry only the minimum UM/UIM, and many pedestrians and cyclists don’t have auto coverage at all — which is where MVAIC matters.

  1. Call 911 immediately and file a police report on the scene. This is critical for hit-and-run cases especially.
  2. Get medical care.
  3. Photograph everything — vehicles, scene, your injuries.
  4. Get witness contact information.
  5. Look for traffic camera footage — NYC has thousands of cameras. Many hit-and-runs are solved with camera footage.
  6. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance carrier without a lawyer.
  7. Call us as soon as possible. The MVAIC Notice of Intention has a 90-day deadline.

If you were hit by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver in New York, call us today. We can investigate identification of the driver and file the necessary MVAIC paperwork well within the 90-day deadline.

Amparo Law Firm PLLC · (212) XXX-XXXX · info@amparolawfirm.com

This guide is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.