(a) Actions for Personal Injury, Injury to Property or Wrongful Death. In any action brought to recover damages for personal injury, injury to property or wrongful death, where the plaintiff seeks to recover for the cost of medical care, dental care, custodial care or rehabilitation services, loss of earnings or other economic loss, evidence shall be admissible for consideration by the court to establish that any such past or future cost or expense was or will, with reasonable certainty, be replaced or indemnified, in whole or in part, from any collateral source, except for life insurance and those payments as to which there is a statutory right of reimbursement. If the court finds that any such cost or expense was or will, with reasonable certainty, be replaced or indemnified from any such collateral source, it shall reduce the amount of the award by such finding, minus an amount equal to the premiums paid by the plaintiff for such benefits for the two-year period immediately preceding the accrual of such action and minus an amount equal to the projected future cost to the plaintiff of maintaining such benefits. In order to find that any future cost or expense will, with reasonable certainty, be replaced or indemnified by the collateral source, the court must find that the plaintiff is legally entitled to the continued receipt of such collateral source, pursuant to a contract or otherwise enforceable agreement, subject only to the continued payment of a premium and such other financial obligations as may be required by such agreement. Any collateral source deduction required by this subdivision shall be made by the trial court after the rendering of the jury’s verdict. The plaintiff may prove his or her losses and expenses at the trial irrespective of whether such sums will later have to be deducted from the plaintiff’s recovery.
§ 4545.Admissibility of collateral source of payment
Article 45. Evidence · Last amended 2009 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 4545 lets a defendant in a personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death case reduce a damages award by showing the court that medical bills, lost earnings, or other economic losses were or will be covered by insurance or another collateral source, minus premiums the plaintiff paid.
Full Text of CPLR 4545
(b) Voluntary Charitable Contributions Excluded as a Collateral Source of Payment. Voluntary charitable contributions received by an injured party shall not be considered to be a collateral source of payment that is admissible in evidence to reduce the amount of any award, judgment or settlement. (c), (d) [Redesignated]
Plain-English Summary
New York juries hear evidence of a plaintiff's full medical bills and lost income without knowing whether insurance already covered some of it. CPLR 4545 addresses that gap after the verdict comes in, not before. In personal injury, property damage, and wrongful death cases, once the jury has awarded damages for medical care, dental or custodial care, rehabilitation, lost earnings, or other economic loss, the trial court can hear evidence, outside the jury's presence, that some or all of those costs were or will be replaced from a collateral source: health insurance, disability benefits, or another payment stream apart from the defendant.
Life insurance is excluded, and so is any collateral source that carries its own statutory right of reimbursement (workers' compensation liens are the common example, since the insurer that paid the benefit gets to recover it from the judgment anyway). If the court finds a collateral source did or will replace part of the award, it reduces the award by that amount, but it credits back to the plaintiff whatever premiums the plaintiff paid for that coverage over the two years before the case accrued, plus the projected cost of keeping the coverage going forward. For future collateral source payments, the court has to find the plaintiff is legally entitled to keep receiving them under an enforceable agreement, not merely likely to receive them.
Subdivision (b) draws one firm line: voluntary charitable contributions to an injured plaintiff never count as a collateral source. A crowdfunding campaign or a hospital's charity write-off cannot be used to shrink a verdict. And because the offset happens after the verdict, plaintiffs still get to put on full evidence of their losses and expenses at trial, even knowing a judge may later reduce the number the jury lands on.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the collateral source rule work in New York?
After a jury awards damages in a personal injury, property, or wrongful death case, CPLR 4545 lets the court reduce that award by any amount the plaintiff's medical bills, lost earnings, or similar losses were or will be paid by another source, such as health insurance, minus what the plaintiff paid in premiums.
Does the jury ever hear about the plaintiff's insurance coverage?
No. The collateral source hearing and any reduction happen after the jury renders its verdict, and the plaintiff can present full evidence of losses at trial without the jury factoring in insurance coverage.
Is health insurance a collateral source under CPLR 4545?
Yes, health insurance and most other benefit payments that cover medical or economic losses qualify, unless the payment is life insurance or carries a statutory right of reimbursement.
Can a defendant use workers' compensation payments to reduce a verdict under this rule?
Usually not directly, because workers' compensation carries a statutory right of reimbursement, which CPLR 4545 excludes from the collateral source offset.
Does the collateral source rule reduce an award by the full amount of insurance payments?
No. The court subtracts the premiums the plaintiff paid for that coverage in the two years before the case accrued, along with the projected future cost of keeping it, before applying the reduction.
Are charitable donations to an injured plaintiff counted against their recovery?
No. CPLR 4545(b) excludes voluntary charitable contributions from the collateral source offset entirely, so donations do not reduce a plaintiff's award.
What must a defendant show to offset future medical expenses under CPLR 4545?
The defendant must show the plaintiff is legally entitled, under a contract or other enforceable agreement, to keep receiving the collateral source benefit, subject only to continued premium payments, not merely that the plaintiff is likely to receive it.
Amendment History
Add, L 1984, ch 701, § 2, eff Oct 1, 1984; amd, of L 1986, ch 682; L 1985, ch 294, § 8; L 1985, ch 760, § 7; L 1986, ch 220, § 36, eff June 28, 1986; L 1986, ch 485, § 9, eff July 21, 1986; L 2002, ch 672, § 1, eff Dec 9, 2002; L 2009, ch 494, §§ 1-3 (Part F), eff Nov 12, 2009.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
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