New Jersey car accident claims
New Jersey is a choice state. The lawsuit option on your auto policy can block pain-and-suffering even when the other driver is at fault.
A crash is a negligence claim: duty, breach, cause, harm. The numbers below are the published New Jersey rules, not a ruling on your facts.
Last checked Sep 23, 2026 · LawyerUnc editorial. Educational only, not legal advice.
- How long you have to file
- Ordinary injury claims in New Jersey often run 2 years (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2). Tolling and discovery rules can change a date. Confirm the current statute.
- If you share blame
- If you are more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing. At 50% or less, your recovery is cut by your share of blame.
- No-fault vs the other driver
- New Jersey lets you choose, on the insurance policy, a limitation-on-lawsuit option (often called the verbal threshold) or no limitation. If you bought the limitation, you may be blocked from pain-and-suffering even when the other driver is at fault. That is an insurance choice. It is not New Jersey's 51% shared-blame rule. (N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8)
- What usually matters
- · The ordinary clock is two years.
- · Your auto policy's lawsuit option can block pain-and-suffering even when the other driver is at fault. That is an insurance choice, not a tort-reform bill.
- · A 50/50 split still recovers under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1. The January 1, 2026 coverage-floor increase did not change that.
- What to save
- Photos of the scene and the cars, the police report number, dashcam or store video, the other driver's insurance card, and your own medical visits in order. Do not post a joke about the crash. Use the preservation letter if a truck or a tape is about to disappear.