Staten Island Auto Insurance
Last Updated on September 30, 2026 by James Shaffer
Staten Island drivers need the same insurance as anyone registering a car in New York: bodily injury liability of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident ($50,000 and $100,000 when someone dies), $10,000 in property damage liability, $50,000 in no-fault benefits, and uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000/$50,000. The policy has to come from a company licensed in New York.
Beyond the minimums, two choices deserve more thought here than in much of the state. The required uninsured motorist coverage doesn’t apply to crashes outside New York, which matters in a borough whose bridges lead straight into New Jersey. And a flooded car is paid for only if you carry comprehensive coverage. This page covers the rules, those coverage decisions, what drives prices, the local DMV office, and Staten Island agencies whose contact details were checked in September 2026.
At a Glance
- Required minimums: $25,000/$50,000 bodily injury, $50,000/$100,000 death, $10,000 property damage, $50,000 no-fault, and $25,000/$50,000 uninsured motorist. The DMV does not accept out-of-state insurance.
- Driving in New Jersey: Basic uninsured motorist coverage only applies to accidents in New York. Optional SUM coverage also covers out-of-state crashes and drivers who carry too little insurance.
- Flood damage: Damage to your own car from a flood is covered under comprehensive, not liability. Hurricane Sandy’s surge flooded large parts of the East and South Shores in 2012.
- Coverage gaps: A lapse in liability insurance can lead to registration and license suspension. Lapses of up to 90 days carry civil penalties of $8 to $12 per day, and longer ones mean surrendering your plates.
- New York's Required Coverage for Staten Island Drivers
- Coverage Choices That Matter More on Staten Island
- What Affects Car Insurance Prices on Staten Island
- How to Compare Insurers and Quotes
- Staten Island Car Insurance Agents
- The Staten Island DMV Office and Proof of Insurance
- Insurance Lapses and DMV Penalties
- FAQs on Staten Island Car Insurance
New York’s Required Coverage for Staten Island Drivers
Insurance requirements are the same in every New York county, so a Staten Island policy starts with the minimums below. Coverage has to stay in force for as long as the car is registered, even if it sits unused, and the name on the policy must match the name on the registration.
| Coverage | New York Minimum |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident |
| Death liability | $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident |
| Property damage liability | $10,000 per accident |
| No-fault (personal injury protection) | $50,000 per person |
| Uninsured motorist (UM) | $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident |
The insurer must be licensed in New York; the DMV states plainly that it does not accept out-of-state insurance. The DMV’s insurance requirements page lists the current rules, and our guide to New York insurance laws and requirements covers them statewide.
What No-Fault Pays After a Crash
No-fault, also called personal injury protection (PIP), pays certain injury costs after a crash regardless of who caused it. The basic benefit is up to $50,000 per person for:
- Necessary medical and hospital bills, paid according to state fee schedules
- 80% of lost earnings, up to $2,000 a month, for up to three years after the accident
- Up to $25 a day, for one year, for other reasonable and necessary expenses
A separate $2,000 death benefit is paid to the estate of a covered person on top of the $50,000. No-fault doesn’t pay to repair your car; that falls under collision or comprehensive.
The deadlines are short. Written notice of the claim has to reach the insurer within 30 days of the accident, and separate limits of 45 days for medical bills and 90 days for lost-wage claims also apply. Missing one can cost you benefits unless you can give a clear, reasonable justification, according to the DFS no-fault FAQ. DFS also explains that you may sue the driver who caused the crash if you sustain a “serious injury” as defined in Section 5102(d) of the New York Insurance Law.
Coverage Choices That Matter More on Staten Island
Staten Islanders rely on cars far more than New Yorkers overall. A State Comptroller report on the North Shore found that 62 percent of Staten Island commuters used cars, trucks, or vans in 2018–2022, compared with 27 percent citywide. More time behind the wheel makes a few optional coverages worth pricing out.
SUM Coverage for Trips into New Jersey
The uninsured motorist coverage built into every New York policy has two gaps. It stops at $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and it doesn’t cover accidents outside New York. According to DFS, supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist (SUM) coverage does apply to out-of-state accidents, so it’s the coverage that follows you over the bridges to New Jersey.
SUM also pays when the driver who hit you has insurance but not enough to cover your injuries. You buy it for an extra premium, and your SUM limits can’t be higher than your own bodily injury liability limits, so raising liability also raises the SUM you can carry. SUM payments are reduced by whatever you recover from the other driver’s auto insurance. DFS describes SUM and the other add-ons on its optional auto coverage page.
Comprehensive Coverage for Flood and Storm Damage
Liability coverage pays for damage you cause to others, not for your own car. Comprehensive covers damage from causes other than a collision, and DFS lists theft, fire, flood, windstorm, glass breakage, vandalism, and hitting an animal among them.
Staten Island’s flood exposure is well documented. The city’s post-Sandy resiliency report describes the 2012 storm surge as devastating for Oakwood Beach, South Beach, Midland Beach, and New Dorp Beach, and on the North Shore floodwater reached past Bay Street in Clifton, Stapleton, and Tompkinsville. If you park in a low-lying area, look up your hurricane evacuation zone, and before dropping comprehensive, ask yourself whether you could replace the car if it flooded.
Quick tip: When you add collision or comprehensive, New York requires the insurer to inspect and photograph the car first, though the inspection is usually waived for a brand-new vehicle. It costs you nothing, but physical damage coverage is suspended until it’s done, so schedule it as soon as the policy starts. Through October 1, 2027, state law also lets insurers waive inspections for some or all cars, so ask yours. Our guide to New York’s pre-insurance inspection has the details.
Higher Liability Limits and Extra No-Fault
The $10,000 property damage minimum may not cover a newer car, and $25,000 in bodily injury coverage can run out quickly after a serious crash. If a claim goes past your limits, you may be personally responsible for the rest. Higher limits cost more, and because SUM is capped at your liability limits, it makes sense to price the two together.
Two add-ons raise injury benefits. Additional PIP lifts the total no-fault limit to $100,000 or more. Optional Basic Economic Loss (OBEL) adds $25,000 once the basic $50,000 is used up, and the injured person can direct it to lost wages, rehabilitation, or all basic losses.
If your car is financed or leased, the lender will usually require collision and comprehensive. Our guide to full coverage car insurance in New York explains how those pieces fit together.
What Affects Car Insurance Prices on Staten Island
There’s no single Staten Island price. Two drivers on the same block can get very different quotes, so treat any published borough average as a rough reference at most.
Location does play a part. DFS explains that New York is divided into rating territories, filed by each insurer to reflect differences in claim costs, which is why the same driver and car can price differently on Staten Island than in another borough or upstate.
For collision and comprehensive, the car itself carries a lot of weight. Insurers use rating symbols that reflect a model’s price, repair costs, crash damage, and theft record, and DFS publishes a table of rating symbols by vehicle you can check before you buy. Higher symbols mean higher premiums.
A few factors are in your hands:
- A DMV-approved Point and Insurance Reduction Program (PIRP) course reduces liability and collision premiums by 10% each year for three years. It can also reduce up to 4 points when the DMV counts points toward a suspension, though the violations stay on your record. Courses are offered online, and you need to retake one every 36 months to keep the discount.
- A higher collision or comprehensive deductible lowers the premium, but only makes sense if you could pay it after a claim.
- Keeping coverage continuous avoids the DMV penalties described below.
Our tips for lowering insurance costs in New York go further. If insurers won’t offer you a policy because of your record or claims, the New York Automobile Insurance Plan (NYAIP) assigns you to one. DFS says plan coverage generally costs more, the assigned company must keep you for three years, and you can move to a regular policy whenever one is offered. Our page on insurance for high-risk drivers covers the options.
How to Compare Insurers and Quotes
Each insurer sets its own rates and territories, so quotes for identical coverage can differ. Compare at least a few quotes with the same liability limits, SUM limits, and deductibles, or the prices won’t mean much side by side.
For service, check the DFS auto insurance complaint ranking, which ranks insurers by the complaints DFS upheld against them relative to the premiums they write in New York. Look up the exact company named on your quote, because large groups write policies through more than one company; GEICO, for example, appears as GEICO General Insurance Company, Government Employees Insurance Company, and GEICO Indemnity Company. The ranking counts only complaints sent to DFS, and a small insurer’s position can swing on one or two complaints.
NYMI has New York reviews of these insurers: Allstate, Amica, Erie, GEICO, Kemper, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, New York Central Mutual (NYCM), Progressive, State Farm, Travelers, and USAA.
Staten Island Car Insurance Agents
A captive agent sells one company’s policies, while an independent agency can quote several insurers at once. The addresses and phone numbers below were checked against each agency’s website or the insurer’s agent directory in September 2026. We haven’t rated these offices, so use the same comparison steps with any of them.
| Agency | Address | Phone | Sells |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roth Insurance | 1775 South Ave, Ste 1, 10314 | (718) 494-4500 | Multiple insurers (independent) |
| Bentson & Company | 653 Forest Ave, 10310 | (718) 442-1771 | Multiple insurers (independent) |
| Dominick Abramo | 3929 Amboy Rd, 10308 | (718) 395-3018 | State Farm |
| Larissa Buerano | 1228 Forest Ave, 10310 | (718) 727-1000 | State Farm |
| Terry Monroe | 3135 Victory Blvd, 10314 | (718) 761-4310 | State Farm |
| Jerry Mignone | 1592 Richmond Ave, 10314 | (718) 983-7707 | Allstate |
| Thomas Granello | 1928 Victory Blvd, 10314 | (718) 815-4800 | Allstate |
Larissa Buerano also has a second office at 131 New Dorp Lane, (718) 987-6700. State Farm’s Staten Island agent directory lists its other local offices.
Whichever office you call, these questions help you compare quotes fairly:
- Which company would actually write the policy, so you can look it up in the DFS complaint ranking?
- What does SUM cost at the same limits as your bodily injury liability?
- Does the car need a photo inspection before collision and comprehensive take effect?
- Will a completed PIRP course be applied, and which other discounts do you qualify for?
The Staten Island DMV Office and Proof of Insurance
Staten Island’s DMV office is the Richmond office at 1775 South Ave, Staten Island, NY 10314. The DMV strongly encourages reservations, and when waits are long, only customers with one are let in. The Richmond Traffic Violations Bureau is at the same address.
To register a car you need a New York State Insurance ID Card, and the registration has to be completed within 180 days of the card’s effective date. Your insurer provides the card on paper or electronically, and you must have it when you drive. Electronic cards aren’t allowed for a few policy types, such as dealer policies and all-owned-vehicle policies. You can check your insurance status online to confirm the DMV has your coverage on file.
Insurance Lapses and DMV Penalties
Your insurer reports cancellations and new coverage to the DMV electronically, so a gap in liability coverage reaches the DMV without any paperwork from you. The DMV can then suspend your registration and your driver license. If the lapse lasted 90 days or less, the DMV lets you pay a civil penalty:
| Length of Lapse | What the DMV Requires |
|---|---|
| 1 to 30 days | Civil penalty of $8 per day |
| 31 to 60 days | Civil penalty of $10 per day |
| 61 to 90 days | Civil penalty of $12 per day |
| More than 90 days | No penalty option; surrender plates and registration, and your license is suspended for the same period |
Ending a license suspension also carries a $50 suspension termination fee. If your license is revoked for driving an uninsured vehicle, restoring it requires a $750 civil penalty. The DMV’s insurance lapse page has the full rules.
If you get an insurance letter or order from the DMV:
- Respond right away. The DMV says to act on insurance letters and orders immediately.
- Check your insurance status online, and call your insurer if its report to the DMV looks wrong.
- If you were insured the whole time, send proof of coverage the way your letter and the DMV’s proof of insurance page describe.
- If you were uninsured for 90 days or less, pay the civil penalty online, by mail, or at a DMV office.
If you’re selling a car, moving out of state, or letting coverage go, surrender your plates to the DMV before the insurance ends, not after. Our guide to canceling car insurance in New York walks through the order of steps.
Car insurance guides for nearby places: Brooklyn, Manhattan and New York City. For every city and borough we cover, see New York car insurance by city.