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Last updated: September 28, 2023

Guide to PIP Insurance in New Jersey

Personal injury protection simplified

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Aliza Vigderman, Director of Content

In 2020, there were a total of 190,793 car crashes in the Garden State. Out of this number, 42,791, or 22 percent, involved injuries and 550, less than 1 percent, involved deaths, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation. If you’re injured or killed in a car accident, personal injury protection (PIP) would cover your medical expenses and potentially your funeral and death benefits. Here’s everything you need to know about PIP insurance in the Garden State.

Does New Jersey Require PIP Insurance?

PIP covers your and your passengers’ medical expenses, regardless of who caused the accident. New Jersey car insurance requirements include PIP insurance, but you can choose whether, after a car accident, you want your PIP to be primary, meaning used first, or your health insurance. By default, PIP is secondary to health insurance, but you can save money by making your health insurance primary, given that it covers car accidents with high enough limits.

NOTE:

If you are on Medicare or Medicaid, you cannot make your health insurance primary for auto accidents.

PIP has two parts, the first of which is required and the second of which is optional. The required, basic portion is for medical expenses, which include any treatment from medical providers, doctors, and hospitals, plus any medical equipment you need to treat your injuries. However, for PIP to apply, the injuries must be:

  • Permanent or significant brain injury
  • Spinal cord injury or disfigurement
  • All medically necessary treatment of other permanent/significant injuries rendered at a trauma center or acute care hospital immediately following an accident, and, until the patient is stable, no longer requires critical care, and can be transferred to another facility, according to the judgment of a physician

However, if you upgrade to a standard policy, you’ll receive the following benefits:

  • Death benefit
  • Funeral expense benefit
  • Household and family care essential service benefits
  • Lost income, less temporary disability benefits, up to the amount you selected1

Wondering how much PIP to buy based on your budget? Here’s a helpful chart from the state’s Department of Banking & Insurance.2

Personal injury protection Medical expense limit Medical deductible Extra PIP options Health insurer for PIP option
Low-cost options $15,000, $50,000, $75,000, or $150,000 $500, $1,000, $2,000, or $2,500 Decline Choose health insurer as primary
What most drivers choose $250,000 $250 Extra PIP options PIP as primary
Higher cost option More than $250,000 None Extra PIP options PIP as primary

FYI:

For amounts in between your deductible and $5,000, you’ll owe a 20 percent copay for medical expenses. Save money on PIP by choosing a higher deductible.

Fault Laws

New Jersey is a unique state in that you can choose between an at-fault or no-fault system, even though PIP is required.

The no-fault option would be to choose both parts of PIP, the medical expenses and the lost wages, child care, etc. But if you want an at-fault system, choose only the medical expenses option. Regardless, the at-fault party will pay for your property damages under liability coverage, but since New Jersey doesn’t require bodily injury coverage if the other party doesn’t have it, your PIP could cover your and your passengers’ injuries.

With a standard policy, you’ll choose if you want an unlimited or limited right to sue. With a limited right to sue, you can’t sue for pain and suffering unless you had one of the following injuries:

  • Death
  • Displaced fracture
  • Loss of a body party
  • Loss of a fetus
  • Permanent injury, meaning that a body part or organ cannot heal to function normally without further medical services resulting in more medical bills
  • Significant disfigurement
  • Significant scarring

With an unlimited right to sue, you can sue for pain and suffering for any injury, along with medical bills, lost wages, and essential services, given your coverage limits weren’t high enough. But before you sue, make a PIP claim, as this no-fault insurance exists so that you can file a claim rather than sue someone in a civil suit. With each party dealing with its own auto insurer, civil suits are reduced under this no-fault state model.

Modified Comparative Negligence Laws

You can receive money only if you were less than 50 percent at-fault in an accident. However, if you were any percentage of fault under 50, your compensation will be reduced by the same percentage.

Car Insurance Coverages New Jersey Requires

New Jersey is one of the few states that doesn’t require bodily injury liability coverage. Rather, the requirements are as follows:

  • Property damage liability: $5,000 per accident
  • Personal injury protection: $15,000 per person and per accident, or up to $250,000 for certain injuries (described in detail above)

New Jersey Car Insurance Discounts

Finding cheap New Jersey car insurance may be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Ask your insurance agent if they offer any of the following discounts:

  • Accident-free
  • Automatic billing
  • Bundling
  • Defensive driver course
  • Homeownership
  • Hybrid or electric vehicle
  • Low annual mileage
  • Military
  • Multiple vehicles
  • New car
  • Paid in full
  • Paperless billing
  • Vehicle equipment like anti-theft equipment

Average Cost of Car Insurance in New Jersey

The average cost of car insurance in New Jersey is $1,334 per year, the seventh-highest cost in the nation. Most of this cost is liability insurance, which costs $903 on average, followed by collision insurance at $407, an optional coverage, plus comprehensive coverage, only $132 per year, in the bottom 10 in the nation in terms of price.3

DID YOU KNOW?

Perhaps one of the reasons why the average cost of comprehensive coverage in New Jersey is so low is due to the state’s low auto theft rate, the seventh-lowest in the nation, with only 116 thefts per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019.4

Best Car Insurance in New Jersey

To register your car in New Jersey, you’ll need insurance, hopefully from one of the best companies in the state.

We’ve had the most success, over the past 20 years, connecting New Jersey customers with car insurance companies such as:

How to Get the Best Car Insurance in New Jersey

To get the best auto insurance rates in New Jersey, compare quotes from at least three companies, read financial strength and customer satisfaction ratings from sources like AM Best and J.D. Power, and read the reviews on AutoInsurance.com. We also have pricing pages so you can see what people pay with different companies on average. Or call us and we’ll connect you with a company that would love to have you as a customer.

Recap

If you’re wondering whether to stick with the standard or upgrade to basic coverage, talk to your insurance agent. They will walk you through all of your options and find a coverage level that works with your budget. To learn more about PIP in New Jersey, keep reading the below frequently asked questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does PIP cover the person in New Jersey?

PIP covers the driver and their passengers in New Jersey. However, it does not cover people in other vehicles or the named insured in other vehicles. Rather, the insurance follows the car, not the driver.

Can someone drive my car if they are not on my insurance in New Jersey?

Yes. As long as they have your permission and are licensed, someone can drive your car even if they are not on your New Jersey insurance. If they get into an accident, your insurance will cover the bodily injuries and property damages up to your limits.

Citations

  1. Selecting Your Health Insurer for PIP Option. State of New Jersey Department of Banking & Insurance. (2023).
    https://www.nj.gov/dobi/division_consumers/insurance/pipoption.htm

  2. AUTO INSURANCE NEW JERSEY BUYER’S GUIDE. New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. (2023).
    https://www.nj.gov/dobi/division_consumers/pdf/autoguide2023.pdf

  3. 2019/2020 Auto Insurance Database Report. National Association of Insurance Commissioners. (2023, Jan).
    https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/publication-aut-pb-auto-insurance-database.pdf

  4. 2019 Crime in the United States. FBI. (2020).
    https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/topic-pages/tables/table-4

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