New Jersey Auto Accident Attorney

New Jersey auto policies include personal injury protection (PIP), paid without regard to fault. On a standard policy it covers the named insured and resident relatives, including as pedestrians, and others riding in the insured car with permission. Standard-policy medical PIP is $250,000 unless a lower amount was elected in writing; basic and special policies differ. PIP does not pay pain and suffering; that claim depends on the policy that applies to you and on the vehicle you are suing.

“Verbal threshold” is the common name for the limitation on lawsuit option. Where it applies, which depends on the policy that covers you and on whether the defendant’s vehicle is one the statute protects, pain and suffering can be recovered only for death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement or scarring, a displaced fracture, loss of a fetus, or a permanent injury. A physician’s certification based on objective clinical evidence is due within 60 days after the defendant answers the complaint.

Call 911 and get checked even if you feel fine. Photograph the vehicles, plates and scene, and collect the other driver’s license, insurance and registration plus witness contacts. Do not argue about fault at the scene. Get the police report number. Notify your own insurer promptly so the PIP claim opens, keep every bill and receipt, and speak with us before giving a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer.

Most New Jersey injury lawsuits must be filed within two years after the claim accrues, usually the date of injury. If a government vehicle or a public road may be involved, a written notice of claim is generally due to that public entity within 90 days of accrual. Death claims generally run two years from the death. Accrual, tolling for children or incapacity, and late-notice rules can change these clocks, so do not rely on a general rule; ask early.

You can still recover if your share of the negligence is not greater than the combined negligence of the drivers you are suing. Your damages are reduced by your percentage: found 20% at fault, you recover 80% of the damages the jury sets. If you are found more at fault than the defendants combined, you recover nothing from them. Insurers often push fault onto the injured driver, so the crash evidence matters.

It depends. Under the no limitation option, pain and suffering can be claimed for any injury caused by another’s negligence. Under the limitation on lawsuit option, which applies if no written choice was made, a listed injury is needed when the defendant is an owner, operator or occupant of a vehicle the statute covers; whether it covers a truck, bus or other vehicle is checked case by case. Uncovered medical bills and wage loss can be claimed under either option.

PIP pays medical expenses up to the applicable limit and, unless the policy excludes them, limited income benefits (up to $100 a week and $5,200 in total). From the at-fault driver you can claim economic losses PIP did not pay, such as further lost wages and unreimbursed medical bills, plus pain and suffering where the lawsuit-limitation rules allow it. Available insurance, including your own underinsured motorist coverage, usually limits what can be collected.

Not every claim needs one, but it helps when injuries are lasting, fault is disputed, a policy may be too small, or a bus, truck or out-of-state driver is involved. We handle the PIP file and the injury claim together, get the physician certification in on time and check every policy that may apply. The consultation is free and there is no fee unless there is a recovery.

PIP medical payments usually continue during treatment. The injury claim normally waits until doctors can say whether the injury is permanent, because that answer drives both the tort-option question and the value of the case. Disputed liability, several defendants or a trial date add time. We do not promise a timetable, and we do not recommend settling before the medical picture is clear.

Passaic County crashes are decided under the same New Jersey rules as anywhere else in the state: PIP, the tort option, comparative fault and the two-year deadline. Local facts still matter. Routes 46 and 23 and Interstate 80 carry heavy commuter and truck traffic, and a crash involving a county or municipal vehicle or road may require a 90-day notice of claim. Our New Jersey office is in Teaneck, in neighboring Bergen County.