90/180 day category serious injury attorney

The 90/180 category is the serious injury definition at N.Y. Insurance Law 5102(d) covering a medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature that prevents a person from performing substantially all of the material acts constituting their usual and customary daily activities during a defined portion of the period immediately following the accident. It is the category for the person who was genuinely disabled for a period and then recovered. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. handles these claims. Call (888) 437-7747.

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Why This Category Exists

The other threshold categories require permanence or a significant lasting limitation. Without this one, a person who was seriously incapacitated for months and then recovered would have no claim for what they endured. The category fills that gap, and it is proved with an entirely different kind of evidence: contemporaneous documentation of disability and of what the person could not do, rather than measurements of lasting deficit.

Medically Determined Is Essential

The impairment must be medically determined, which means supported by objective medical evidence rather than by the injured person’s own account of being unable to function. A physician has to have documented the injury and the resulting restriction. Claims under this category fail most often not because the person was not disabled but because nothing in the medical record says so during the relevant period.

Substantially All of Usual Activities

The standard is demanding. Courts have held that curtailment of activities must be to a great extent rather than a slight one. A person who returned to work part-time, or who managed most household tasks with difficulty, may not satisfy it. What helps is specificity: not a general assertion of being unable to do much, but a documented account of particular activities that stopped and when they resumed.

The Timing Requirement

The disability must fall within the defined portion of the period immediately following the accident. A person who worked for several months, deteriorated, and then became disabled may fail this category even though the injury was real and caused by the collision, because the disability did not occur in the required window. This is why documenting restriction from the outset matters more here than in any other category.

Evidence That Works

Out-of-work notes issued at the time and identifying the restriction. Employer records showing dates absent. Disability forms submitted to a carrier. School records for a student. Physical therapy notes describing functional limits rather than only treatment rendered. Testimony from family members about what changed at home, corroborated by the contemporaneous documents. Records generated during the period always outweigh recollection offered afterwards.

Pleading It Alongside Other Categories

This category is normally pleaded together with the permanence categories, because the medical picture may develop in either direction. An injury that appears non-permanent early may prove lasting, and one expected to resolve may not. Pleading in the alternative preserves the argument while treatment clarifies the picture, and abandoning a category before the medical course is known is an avoidable error.

How the Defence Attacks It

The defence looks for the return to work date, for activities documented on social media, for treatment records describing improvement, and for any physician note releasing the person without restriction. It also examines whether the restriction was ever medically imposed or merely self-reported. Anticipating those arguments while the record is being created is far more effective than answering them at the motion stage.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the 90/180 category require?

A medically determined non-permanent injury that prevented substantially all usual and customary daily activities during a defined portion of the period immediately after the accident. It is aimed at genuine temporary disability.

Does my own account of being unable to function suffice?

No. The impairment must be medically determined and supported by objective medical evidence. Contemporaneous physician documentation of restriction is the core of the proof.

I went back to work part-time. Does that hurt?

It can. Courts require curtailment to a great extent rather than a slight one, and a partial return is used to argue the standard is not met. The specifics of what could and could not be done matter.

What if I became disabled later?

The category requires disability within the window immediately following the accident. A later onset may not qualify under this category, though other categories may apply if the injury proves lasting.

What documents help most?

Out-of-work notes issued at the time, employer attendance records, disability forms, and therapy notes describing functional limits. Documents created during the period carry far more weight than later recollection.

Should other categories be pleaded too?

Almost always. The medical course may show a lasting limitation, and pleading the permanence categories alongside preserves the argument while treatment clarifies the picture.

About Mr. Sris

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., has practiced since 1997. He is a former prosecutor, and that experience shapes how he builds a record and reads the other side’s file. He is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. His background at George Mason University in accounting and information systems applies to the documentary and financial side of an injury claim, from billing records to wage loss. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle New York matters together, with the division of work set at the start of the engagement.

Speak With Mr. Sris

Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747. Bring the police or incident report, the name of every provider who has treated you, your no-fault claim number if one was opened, and any correspondence from an insurer. That material lets the first conversation move past intake.

No attorney fee unless we recover. Clients may be responsible for case expenses.

Last updated: August 25, 2026

This page provides general information about New York personal injury law and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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