New Jersey Personal Injury Lawyers — Felicetti Law Firm

New Jersey packs more people into fewer miles of road than anywhere else in the country, and routes most of them through the same handful of corridors: the Turnpike, the Parkway, Route 1, Route 22, the approaches to the Holland and Lincoln tunnels and the Delaware crossings. It also runs an auto insurance system unlike almost any other state’s, and that system — not the crash — is usually what decides what a New Jersey claim is worth.

Your Tort Option Decides Whether You Can Sue at All

Every New Jersey auto policy carries an election under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8. The Limitation on Lawsuit option — still widely called the verbal threshold — costs less and bars a claim for pain and suffering unless the injury falls into one of six statutory categories. The No Limitation on Lawsuit option costs more and preserves the right to sue for any bodily injury.

The six categories are death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement or significant scarring, a displaced fracture, loss of a fetus, and a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability other than scarring or disfigurement. That last one carries most of the litigation, and it generally requires a physician’s certification.

Almost nobody remembers which box they ticked when they bought the policy. It is the first thing worth finding out after a New Jersey crash, because it determines whether the case is about proving a permanent injury or simply about proving fault.

PIP Pays First, Whoever Caused It

New Jersey requires Personal Injury Protection medical benefits on every auto policy (N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4). Your own insurer pays for treatment regardless of who was to blame, which is why medical bills start moving before fault is settled.

PIP is also where claims quietly go wrong. Treatment has to be reported and authorised in the way the policy requires, and a gap in care early on becomes the defense argument later that the injury was not serious. Continuity of treatment is evidence in New Jersey, not just medicine.

Ninety Days If a Public Vehicle or Property Was Involved

The New Jersey Tort Claims Act requires a notice of claim within ninety days of accrual (N.J.S.A. 59:8-8). A claimant must then wait six months from the entity’s receipt of that notice before filing suit, and in any event must sue within two years.

Late notice can sometimes be permitted by a court within one year of accrual, but only on a showing of extraordinary circumstances — a standard the Legislature deliberately tightened. NJ Transit buses, municipal vehicles, county road conditions and public property claims all live under this rule.

The Deemer Statute and Out-of-State Drivers

New Jersey’s deemer statute (N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.4) can impose New Jersey’s PIP and tort-option rules onto an out-of-state policy when an authorised insurer’s vehicle is involved in a New Jersey accident. A New York or Pennsylvania driver who has never heard of a verbal threshold can find one applied to their claim.

This trips up experienced people, not just claimants. For anyone who lives in one state and commutes into another across the Hudson or the Delaware, it is worth knowing before a crash rather than after one.

Fault Above Fifty Percent Ends the Claim — At Fifty, It Does Not

New Jersey is a modified comparative negligence state (N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1). A plaintiff recovers, reduced by their own share, so long as that share is not greater than the fault of the parties they are suing. A plaintiff at exactly fifty percent still recovers half. At fifty-one, recovery is barred.

The ordinary deadline to file is two years from the date of injury (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2); for wrongful death the two years run from the date of death. Medical negligence claims carry the same period but add an Affidavit of Merit requirement early in the case.

Reaching the Firm From Anywhere in New Jersey

The firm takes New Jersey claims from Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Edison, Trenton, Camden, Toms River, Atlantic City and the suburban counties in between. Work includes car accidents and threshold disputes, truck crashes on the Turnpike freight corridor, motorcycle claims, pedestrian and cyclist injuries, slip and fall cases, construction site injuries, workers’ compensation and wrongful death.

Find Out Which Rules Apply to You

Two questions decide a New Jersey auto claim early: which tort option is on the policy, and whether a public entity is involved. Both have answers, and both are worth getting quickly. Call (800) 333-1988 or write to us online for a free review. No fee unless there is a recovery.

Call (800) 333-1988 — Free New Jersey Case Review

Felicetti also handles claims in: New York · Maryland · Washington, DC · Illinois

This is a general description of New Jersey law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. New Jersey matters are handled by attorneys licensed in New Jersey.