New Jersey Lawyers BlogNew Jersey Motor Vehicle Accidents
If you or a family member are injured in an automobile accident, it is important to contact an experienced New Jersey personal injury attorney to protect your rights to allow you to bring claims for compensation.
Under New Jersey automobile insurance laws, everyone who drives in New Jersey must have automobile insurance. Insurance companies are responsible to have an attorney defend a driver accused of negligence and pay any judgment or settlement. This means that the insurance company has to appoint and pay for a lawyer to defend the negligent driver and subsequently pay any settlement or judgment up to the policy limits. Typically the insurance company will try to delay and avoid and paying any claims. Even if the insurance company agrees to pay a claim it will try to pay as little as possible. It is therefore critical to speak to an experienced New Jersey personal injury attorney to ensure that your rights are protected.
If you have been involved in an accident you should not speak with the other driver’s insurance company until you have had an opportunity to speak with an experienced New Jersey personal injury attorney. The insurance company will be gathering as much evidence as it can get to use against you in court to avoid or reduce making a payment. After the insurance company learns about an accident it will attempt to contact you to obtain information. The insurance company will do this by sending you letters and calling. This can be overwhelming, especially if you have just been involved in an accident. This is yet another reason to seek representation by an experienced New Jersey personal injury attorney. Experienced attorneys can help preserve evidence by, for example, contacting witnesses and working with the insurance company to provide only the necessary information.
It is also important to seek necessary medical treatment and keep a list of all the medical providers from whom you have sought treatment after the accident. But don’t worry; New Jersey is a “no fault” state. This means that the medical bills for injuries you sustained in an automobile accident are paid by your own insurance company under what is known as “Personal Injury Protection” (“PIP”). Therefore, if you have auto insurance it is important that you advise your own automobile insurance company if you have been in an accident. You should also advise your medical provider that you were involved in an automobile accident when seeking treatment. The medical provider should submit the bill to PIP for payment.
You will still be required to pay some medical bills because most insurance policies contain a deductible. The deductible can range anywhere form $250 up to $1,000. In additional, PIP is only responsible for eighty percent of your medical bills for the first $5,000. You are responsible for the remaining twenty percent of the medical bill. PIP will then pay for all remaining medical bills in excess of $5,000 up to the policy limit.
Trying to resolve all of these complicated matters when you or a family member is injured in an automobile accident can difficult and overwhelming. Our experienced New Jersey personal injury attorneys regularly represent people involved automobile accidents. To learn more about what we can do to help, please e-mail us or contact one of New Jersey lawyers at (973) 890-0004.