Taxi & For-Hire Vehicle Accident Lawyer in Forest Hills
Forest Hills generates a great deal of for-hire traffic: the Queens Boulevard service roads, the station area at 71st Avenue, Austin Street’s restaurants, and a large population that takes a car service to the airport rather than dragging luggage onto the E train. Rides here are frequently shared — couples, families, groups of friends going to the same place.
That last detail creates a problem almost nobody anticipates. When several people are hurt in the same vehicle, they are not each entitled to a separate policy. They are competing for one, and how that policy gets divided is decided long before anyone reaches a courtroom.
Several injured people, one policy
Liability policies carry two numbers: a per-person limit and a larger per-accident limit that caps what the insurer pays for everyone combined. If four passengers are seriously hurt in one taxi, the per-accident limit is the ceiling on all four claims together — and it is frequently a fraction of what the injuries are actually worth.
What follows is uncomfortable but worth understanding. Insurers in this position often move quickly, offering to distribute the available money early. Whoever settles first tends to do best, and the passenger who waits — frequently the most seriously injured one, because they are still in the hospital and not fielding phone calls — can find the fund substantially depleted. Where claims exceed the policy, an insurer may seek to resolve everything at once, and the allocation between claimants can end up being decided by a court.
Three practical consequences follow. Move early, because delay is genuinely costly in a multi-claimant case. Look immediately for additional policies rather than accepting that one policy is all there is — the other vehicle’s coverage, the owner’s coverage under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388, an app’s commercial policy, and each injured person’s own supplementary underinsured motorist coverage, which responds precisely when the at-fault limits are inadequate. And recognize that passengers who were traveling together may need separate representation, because their interests in dividing a limited fund are not identical.
No-fault, the threshold, and the ordinary machinery
Separately from liability, no-fault pays each occupant’s medical treatment and part of their lost earnings regardless of fault, through the policy on the vehicle they were riding in. No-fault has its own per-person allowance and is not divided the way a liability policy is. The application — form NF-2 — generally must reach the insurer within 30 days, and each injured passenger has to file their own.
Compensation for the injury itself requires meeting the serious injury threshold in Insurance Law § 5102(d) — fracture, significant disfigurement, permanent consequential limitation, significant limitation of use, or the 90/180-day category — proven with measured clinical findings and consistent treatment. Passengers are almost never assigned fault, and under CPLR 1411 any share that is argued reduces recovery proportionally rather than barring it. The suit deadline against a private defendant is the three years under CPLR 214, and where a City vehicle or an MTA bus is involved a § 50-e Notice of Claim falls due within 90 days.
What to do in the first week
- Get the names and numbers of everyone else in the vehicle. In a multi-claimant case you need to know who else is claiming.
- Find your own declarations page and check the SUM limit. Where one policy must cover several people, your own underinsured coverage often becomes the main source.
- Move quickly. This is the one situation where waiting genuinely costs money.
- Keep the trip receipt or app record — it identifies the vehicle, owner and insurer.
- File your own NF-2 rather than assuming someone else’s filing covers you.
- Do not accept an early apportioned offer before anyone knows the full extent of everyone’s injuries.
Case results
- $1,325,000 — three-car collision during the course of our client’s employment; knee tear and back herniations requiring surgery. Queens County, settled after depositions.
- $791,897.52 — a sedan turned in front of our client’s vehicle; neck herniations and ankle tears requiring surgery. Queens County, recovered where no additional coverage was available.
- $250,000 — 70-year-old passenger in a vehicle that was rear-ended; surgery required for lower back and knee injuries. Nassau County.
More are listed on our settlements page. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its own facts.
Frequently Asked Questions
My friend and I were both hurt in the same cab. Can one lawyer represent us both?
Sometimes, but not always. Where the available insurance comfortably covers both claims there is usually no conflict. Where it does not, your interests in dividing a limited fund genuinely diverge, and separate representation protects both of you. We tell people honestly which situation they are in rather than signing up everyone in the car.
The insurer says the policy is nearly exhausted by other claims. Is that the end?
Not necessarily. It is a reason to look harder for other coverage — the other vehicle, the registered owner, an app’s commercial policy, and your own underinsured motorist coverage, which exists for exactly this. It is also a reason to verify the assertion rather than accept it.
I was the least injured of the group. Should I settle quickly and let the others have the rest?
Do not decide that before you know your own prognosis. Injuries that seem minor in week one frequently turn out to require surgery, and a release cannot be undone. Being considerate toward the people you were traveling with is admirable; signing away a claim you do not yet understand is not the way to do it.
Does my own no-fault get divided among us too?
No. No-fault benefits are allocated per injured person rather than shared out of one pot the way a liability limit is. Each of you should file separately and promptly.
What does it cost to hire you?
Nothing up front. We work on contingency, the consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we recover for you.
Courts that hear Forest Hills taxi cases
- Queens County Supreme Court, Civil Term — 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, and 25-10 Court Square, Long Island City.
- NYC Civil Court, Queens County — 89-17 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica.
Our Office & Directions from Forest Hills
Yakov Mushiyev & Associates, PC
1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325
Rosedale, NY 11422
Phone: 718.775.3110
Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Home and hospital visits available.
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This page is general information about New York law, not legal advice about your situation. Every case turns on its own facts, and deadlines vary. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Speak with an attorney before relying on anything here.