Two Weeks Later: What Coverage of New York's Tort Reform Still Gets Wrong

Key Takeaways

• Two weeks after enactment, secondhand coverage and AI-generated summaries still describe reforms that are not in the final bill.
• The joint-and-several change did not pass. Neither the broad CPLR §1601 rewrite nor the narrower repeal of CPLR §1602(6) appears in the enacted text. Low-fault motor-vehicle defendants remain jointly and severally liable, exactly as before May 27, 2026.
• No-fault denial timing did not change. The 30-day pay-or-deny framework under Insurance Law §5106(a), and the preclusion case law built on it, continue to govern.
• What actually passed: the 90/180 deletion, fault-first sequencing, the Article 51 mostly-at-fault bar (new CPLR §1411(b)), and the $100,000 bad-actor non-economic cap (new §5104(d)).
• If you are valuing, reserving, or pleading a case based on a summary rather than the bill text, re-check it now.

Last reviewed: June 11, 2026

On May 27, 2026, Governor Hochul signed the FY27 budget, and Part EE of S9008-C / A10008-C became the most significant change to New York motor-vehicle litigation in decades. We published a full practitioner’s analysis the day after enactment and have updated it continuously since.

Two weeks on, a correction problem has emerged across the coverage — and we include our own earlier reporting in that criticism, which is why this article exists. Summaries are circulating, in legal-industry newsletters, aggregator rewrites, and AI-generated answers, that describe provisions that are not in the final enacted text. After a line-by-line re-review of the bill, here is the record, stated plainly.

The joint-and-several change did not pass

During the budget session, two versions of a joint-and-several reform were discussed: a broad rewrite of CPLR §1601 (the “every defendant pays only its share” version), and a narrower compromise — repealing CPLR §1602(6), the motor-vehicle exception that keeps Article 16’s several-liability limitation away from motor-vehicle defendants.

Neither appears in the final enacted text. CPLR §1602(6) remains in force. As a matter of current law, nothing about joint-and-several liability changed on May 27, 2026:

• A motor-vehicle defendant who is 10% at fault can still be held jointly and severally liable for the entire judgment.
• The classic innocent-passenger recovery — minimum-policy primary defendant, deep-pocket low-fault co-defendant (rideshare, fleet, municipal) — is unchanged.
• Carriers and defense counsel who adjusted reserves or pleadings based on early reports of an Article 16 expansion should unwind those assumptions.

Why does so much coverage say otherwise? Because the proposal was widely reported as part of the package while the budget was being negotiated, and many summaries of the enacted law were written from coverage of the proposed law. That error then propagated into aggregator rewrites and AI-generated summaries, which tend to repeat each other. The bill text is the only reliable source. To Albany’s credit, the firms that read it closely got it right — but a great deal of secondary coverage did not.

No-fault denial timing did not change either

A second claim circulating in some summaries: that the budget amended Insurance Law §5106(a) so that an insurer’s failure to pay or deny a no-fault claim within 30 days no longer precludes a later denial. That change is not in the enacted budget. The 30-day pay-or-deny framework — and the preclusion case law that no-fault practice is built on — continues to apply. Denial timeliness, verification practice, and proof of mailing remain exactly as consequential as they were on May 26.

What actually passed: four changes

The enacted Part EE makes four changes, all analyzed in depth in our main tort-reform guide:

1. The 90/180 serious-injury category is gone. Insurance Law §5102(d) no longer recognizes the 90-of-180-days non-permanent disability pathway. Our 90/180 case-law archive explains what the category was and which cases still proceed under it.
2. Fault-first sequencing. Insurance Law §5104(a) now requires the trier of fact to decide liability before serious injury and damages.
3. The Article 51 mostly-at-fault bar. New CPLR §1411(b) bars recovery in personal-injury actions subject to Insurance Law Article 51 when the claimant’s fault is greater than the defendants’ — a motor-vehicle carveout, not a statewide end to pure comparative negligence. Track its status, court challenges, and interpretation on our live 50% bar status tracker.
4. A narrow $100,000 non-economic cap for specified convicted or uninsured at-fault drivers (new Insurance Law §5104(d)) — not a general damages cap.

One more provision that matters and is real: the effective-date language applies the reforms to actions and proceedings commenced on or after May 27, 2026 — not accidents occurring on or after. An unfiled claim from an earlier accident may be governed by the new rules. If you are sitting on one, get advice now.

Why we are publishing a correction piece

An earlier version of our own analysis described the §1602(6) repeal and the §5106(a) change as enacted. After re-reviewing the final bill text line by line, we corrected every page on this site that repeated those descriptions and added dated correction notes — because the entire value of legal analysis is that it matches the statute. If you read it here, you should be able to cite it.

That is also the standard we suggest applying to anything you read about this reform: if a summary does not cite the section of Part EE it is describing, verify it against the bill text before relying on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did joint and several liability reform pass in New York in 2026?

No. Neither the broad CPLR §1601 rewrite nor the repeal of CPLR §1602(6) (the motor-vehicle exception to Article 16) appears in the final FY27 enacted budget. CPLR §1602(6) remains in force, and low-fault motor-vehicle defendants remain subject to joint-and-several liability exactly as before May 27, 2026.

Did New York change the no-fault 30-day denial rule in 2026?

No. The enacted budget did not amend Insurance Law §5106(a)‘s pay-or-deny framework. The 30-day rule and the preclusion case law interpreting it continue to govern no-fault claim handling.

What did the 2026 New York tort reform actually change?

Four things, all limited to motor-vehicle litigation: the 90/180 serious-injury category was deleted from Insurance Law §5102(d); trials are now sequenced fault-first under §5104(a); a mostly-at-fault recovery bar applies in Article 51 personal-injury actions under new CPLR §1411(b); and a narrow $100,000 non-economic cap applies to specified convicted or uninsured at-fault drivers under new §5104(d).

Where can I verify what the bill says?

Read Part EE of the final bill text, S9008-C / A10008-C, on the New York Senate website, alongside the Governor’s May 27, 2026 press release. Our full practitioner analysis walks through each enacted section with citations.

Related Reading

• Hochul Tort Reform 2026: the full practitioner’s analysis
• NY 50% fault bar — live status tracker
• What the reform means for insurers’ claims handling
• DFS told insurers what the reform really means (NYIA)
• New York no-fault insurance law — comprehensive guide

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If you are an attorney with a pending or unfiled motor-vehicle case and you want a second set of eyes on how the enacted text — not the summaries — applies to it, the Law Office of Jason Tenenbaum, P.C. works with referring counsel across New York on motion practice, appeals, and co-counsel arrangements. Call (516) 750-0595 — attorney inquiries answered same day. Injured New Yorkers can call the same number for a free consultation.