Almost 50 years ago (in 1972), New Jersey passed the No Fault Act, which included the  Personal Injury Protection (PIP) provision, which was intended to “provide prompt payment of medical expenses to  injured parties … (and) eliminate the need to determine fault in a lawsuit before an injured party could recover medical expenses.” Haines v. Taft, 450 N.J. Super. 295 (App. Div. 2017). However, the trade off for this benefit was that the medical expenses, to be paid directly by the injured party’s insurance company, could not again be recovered by the injured party from the tortfeasor. Therefore the medical bills were not boardable (could not be admitted into evidence and displayed on a board for the jury).

Although the Act (N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4) requires the standard automobile policy to provide coverage for medical expenses up to $250,000, payments of medical bills are subject to  any option elected by the insured pursuant to N.J.S.A.39:6A-4.3. This provision permits the insured to choose the amount of PIP coverage for medical expenses in the amount of $15,000; $50,000; $75,000; or $150,000.

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