You May Not Have Purchased the Protection that You Think You Have

In 1998, the State of New Jersey passed the Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act to reduce the cost of automobile insurance by reducing the benefits available to persons injured in automobile accidents. This means less coverage to pay for you or your family’s medical expenses regardless of fault and less rights to recovery of monetary damages from reckless drivers who cause collisions.

Protect yourself! Make sure you have purchased a Standard Policy and not a Basic policy. Make certain that you purchase your Standard Policy with no less than $250,000.000 in medical benefits. Most people who elect a lower amount of medical expense benefits, only to save literally a few dollars, find themselves unable to afford necessary medical treatment because they have already exhausted their medical coverage. Medical treatment is expensive and don’t let any automobile insurance company tell you otherwise. Think about it. If an automobile insurance company sells you $15,000.00 in medical expense benefits (as opposed to the standard $250,000.00) they may lose somewhere between $20.00 and $45.00 in premiums but they have just saved themselves from having to pay up to $250,000.00 in medical expense benefits god forbid you or a member of your family is/are injured in an automobile collision, regardless of fault.

Also, make sure you have purchased the “No Limitation on Lawsuit Option.” By electing the “No Limitation on Lawsuit Option” you are not limiting your right or your child’s right to receive monetary compensation in the event you or your child is/are injured in a motor vehicle collision. While the “No Limitation on Lawsuit Option” will slightly increase your premium than if you chose the “Limitation on Lawsuit Option” the limited premium increase is well worth the expense. When you are discussing pricing of your premium for the “No Limitation on Lawsuit Option” versus the “Limitation on Lawsuit Option” demand that the insurance company provide you with the actual dollar amount that your premium will increase if you purchase the “No Limitation on Lawsuit Option” over the “Limitation on Lawsuit Option.” Do not settle on the typical explanation from your insurance company that one option may increase your premium by 120% or 220%. This is very misleading. When you ask the insurance company what the actual dollar amount of a 220% premium increase amounts to you will probably be pleased to hear that it may only cost you $50.00 a month as it has for me and my family. The 120% or 220% premium increase is not an increase on your overall premium. Rather it’s an increase of a line-item premium such as the premium associated with your medical expense benefits.

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