After a New Jersey car crash, medical bills may not be your only concern. Ongoing pain can limit your daily activities and affect your quality of life. Your ability to seek pain and suffering damages might depend on the lawsuit option selected under your policy or, in some cases, a resident family member’s policy. Certain statutory exceptions may also apply.
When can you seek pain and suffering damages?
The Limitation on Lawsuit Option restricts when you can pursue pain and suffering compensation from the driver who caused the crash. Pain and suffering can include physical pain and the ways an injury affects your daily life.
If this option applies to you, your injury generally must fall into one of certain categories. These include:
- Death;
- A displaced fracture;
- Loss of a fetus;
- Dismemberment, meaning the loss of a body part;
- Significant scarring or disfigurement; or
- A permanent injury where the affected body part or organ has not regained normal function and is not expected to do so even with further medical treatment.
If you file a lawsuit subject to this limitation, your treating physician or a board-certified physician to whom you were referred must certify that you have a qualifying injury. The certification must be made under penalty of perjury and based on objective clinical evidence. You must provide the certification within 60 days after the defendant answers the complaint.
How does your insurance policy affect your claim?
Choosing the Limitation on Lawsuit Option can lower your insurance premium. For a Standard Policy, if you do not choose a lawsuit option, the Limitation on Lawsuit Option is imposed by law.
If the No Limitation on Lawsuit Option applies to your policy, you do not have to meet one of these injury categories to pursue pain and suffering damages from the at-fault driver.
Your lawsuit option does not determine whether personal injury protection (PIP) covers medical expenses after a car accident. PIP generally pays covered medical costs up to your policy limits regardless of who caused the crash.
Know what can affect your claim
Your lawsuit option, nature and extent of your injuries, and medical treatment all can affect whether you may pursue pain and suffering damages. Our experienced attorneys can help you determine which option applies to you, help you evaluate the legal standard you need to meet, and help you avoid missing important deadlines.