Property Damage is generally defined as injury to real or personal property through another's negligence, willful destruction, or by some act of nature. In lawsuits for damages caused by negligence or a willful act, property damage is distinguished from personal injury. Property damage may include harm to an automobile or other items such as a fence, a tree, a pole, a home, or any other possession.

New York Insurance Law (Section 1113) defines Property damage Liability insurance, as insurance against legal liability of the insured, and against loss, damage or expense incident to a claim of such liability, arising out of the loss or destruction of, or damage to, the property of any other person, but not including any kind of insurance specified in paragraph thirteen, fifteen or twenty-eight of this subsection.

In this section of New York law Paragraph 13 is Personal Injury Liability insurance, Paragraph 15 defines Worker’s Compensation and Employers' Liability insurance while Paragraph 28 details Service contract reimbursement insurance. So these sections of insurance are not considered to be part of Property Damage Liability insurance.

The NYS insurance laws speak elsewhere about property damage covered by auto insurance by noting it is the destruction of property arising out of the ownership, maintenance, use, or operation of a specific motor vehicle.

You are asking about New York's minimum PD Liability coverage so you should be aware that the minimum limits of third-party Bodily Injury Liability coverage mandated by New York's Vehicle and Traffic Law are:

• $25,000 for bodily injury (not resulting in death), or $50,000 for any injury resulting in death, sustained by any one person in any one accident;
• $50,000 for bodily injury (not resulting in death) sustained by two or more persons in any one accident, or $100,000 for any injuries resulting in death sustained by two or more persons in any one accident (subject to the above per person limits).

Since the minimum limit of coverage required by law for Property Damage Liability protection, for damage to another party’s car or property, is $10,000 per accident, these minimum liability limits in New York are sometimes together referred to as $25,000/$50,000/$10,000 or 25/50/10.

If your car is damaged in an auto accident due to someone else’s negligence, you may be able to make a claim against that other person’s auto insurance policy for Property Damage Liability. You must establish that the other party was at fault. You can also go to court against a third party for property damage according to the NYS Insurance Department.

For more information on the specifics of a NYS Property Damage Liability coverages and definitions per New York insurance laws you can contact the New York State Insurance Department directly.