Types of Auto Insurance Policies and Coverages in New Jersey

Mini-Policy:

Advantages:

• the least expensive type of policy
• satisfies New Jersey's compulsory insurance law.

Disadvantages:

• provides very little or no liability coverage to protect your wages, property and assets if someone else sues you;
• provides only minimal coverage to pay medical expenses for injuries you and your family members may sustain in a car accident;
• a claim for injuries will be dismissed by a Judge, if he or she feels that the lawsuit/verbal threshold has not been satisfied (see criteria below);
• creates substantial risk of having a judgment against you, and liens on property and/or garnishment of wages to satisfy judgments.

Criteria for Injuries: If you are subject to the "limitation on lawsuit" threshold, (also known as the "verbal" threshold), you are not permitted to recover any damages for your New Jersey vehicle accident injuries unless you prove that the injuries satisfy at least one of the following criteria:

• Death
• Dismemberment (loss of a body part)
• Loss of a fetus
• "Significant disfigurement" or "significant scarring". Note: "significant" refers to the subjective view of an observer and not the opinion of the injured person);
• Displaced fracture (simple fractures do not satisfy the threshold unless they cause a "permanent injury" after healing)
• A "permanent injury" within a reasonable degree of medical probability.

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