Car Insurance Claims Process After an Accident in New Jersey

It is far from automatic that you would receive compensation after a car accident injury. First, you need to go through an entire claims process with the other driver’s insurance company and potentially your own. First, you would need to prove liability to put yourself in a position to receive conversation in the first place. Second, you would then need to negotiate an amount of compensation that is adequate to fully compensate you for all of your injuries.

Hire a Car Accident Lawyer to Represent You

To give you the best chance of success in the insurance claims process, you would need a car accident lawyer to represent you. Accordingly, the first step in the insurance claims process in New Jersey should be to hire legal representation. The insurance company will give you more respect if they see that you have someone in your corner who can hold them accountable. Otherwise, if you try to approach the insurance company on your own, you may get the runarounds of either having your claim denied or being offered an amount of money that is entirely inconsistent with your current reality.

How to File a Car Accident Insurance Claim in New Jersey?

The process that you would use depends on the type of car accident coverage you have:

• If you have limited tort insurance, you would be dealing with your own insurance company, and you would not have to prove fault
• If you have full tort insurance coverage, you would seek compensation from the other driver’s insurance company

After the car accident, you would need to prepare for the claims process before you can submit anything to the insurance company. You must reach the point of maximum medical improvement, so you know the full extent of your injuries and damages. Your car accident lawyer would also investigate the crash and gather evidence that can be used to prove liability. You must have proof that shows the other driver was negligent in the events that led to your car crash.

Your car accident lawyer would also estimate your damages, which can include the following:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Property damage
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Emotional distress

When you are ready, your car accident lawyer will draft the claim and submit it to the insurance company. They would take their time to review your claim before they would even give you a response. The amount of time this would take depends on the individual insurance company involved. In any event, you could not expect a quick answer and a speedy resolution of your case.

The insurance company may respond to your claim in one of several ways:

• They would accept liability for the accent and make you a settlement offer.
• They may partially blame you for the crash and reduce the amount of money they offer you.
• They could deny your claim entirely.

Even if the insurance company makes you a settlement offer, it is not always a win. The offer would be just the start of the claims negotiation process, where you would need to reject one or more offers that do not fully pay you. It would be up to you and your car accident lawyer to decide whether it is in your best interest to continue negotiating with the insurance company. You may make a counteroffer and continue to seek more money than what has originally been put in front of you. Alternatively, the choice is yours to pull your case out of the insurance claims process and take it to court. You are always entitled to a trial in front of a jury if that is what you want. However, most car accident victims choose to pursue the claims process to some extent because that could be the quickest and most efficient way to get their money.

Contact the Somerset County Car Accident Lawyers at Rebenack Aronow & Mascolo L.L.P.

If you need to go through the insurance claims process after a motor vehicle crash, reach out to the Somerset County car accident lawyers at Rebenack Aronow & Mascolo L.L.P. Our car accident lawyers are just a phone call away. Call 732-247-3600 or contact us online for a free consultation. Our offices are in New Brunswick, Somerville, and Manalapan, New Jersey, and we serve clients in the surrounding areas, including Middlesex County, Monmouth County, and Somerset County.