New Jersey has very busy roads during the summer months especially in Monmouth County. As an attorney representing many motor vehicle accident clients throughout the New Jersey and the Monmouth County area, I ask you to be extra careful driving this summer because the roads will get busy as people travel towards the shore to beat the summer heat. According to AARP, the likelihood of attendees being involved in an auto accident or receiving a traffic ticket should decrease by 15 percent following the completion of the two sessions. Being a Monmouth County and New Jersey injury lawyer I would recommend completing some of these courses to help improve driving safety and to help reduce those outrageously over priced New Jersey auto insurance rates.

THAT'S RIGHT if you are injured while on a motorcycle or in a cab ride or on a bus or in a commercial vehicle, your medical bills will not be paid by available insurance.  Thus, it becomes even more important to make sure that you retain a personal injury attorney who is proficient in New Jersey motorcycle accident law, truck accident law or taxi related motor vehicle injury law.  This is because your attorney will seek compensation for your pain and suffering and for your outstanding medical bills from the at fault driver.  This area of law has become very complex and requires counsel that has extensive experience in representing persons injured in truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, taxi cab accidents and bus accidents.  This is particularly true in the case of victims of serious injuries because their mounting current and future medical debts with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or spinal cord injuries (SCI) could leave a family into life altering financial ruins. 

My clients are often times totally shocked when I explain to them the realty of the PIP laws in New Jersey.  They often ask how is this possible that I was riding in a taxi and the driver was in a major accident and his insurance company is not responsible for payment of my injury related medical bills? I tell them to thank the powerful insurance lobby who has done an amazing job blaming the "trial lawyers" like myself  for your exorbitant insurance rates while netting BILLIONS in record profits and shielding themselves by succeeding in having the New Jersey legislature pass laws exempting them from payment to their insured's or insured's immediate family member's medical providers where medical claims have become exempt from coverage.  

Representing clients throughout New Jersey including but not limited to Manalapan, Marlboro, Holmdel, Freehold, Millstone, Colts Neck, Howell, Old Bridge, Jackson, Red Bank, Hackensack, Saddle Brook, Paramus, Ridgewood, Teaneck, Demarest, Dumont, Pompton Plains, Glen Rock & Fairlawn the Law Offices of Scott D. Grossman, LLC brings extensive experience, individual attention and compassion for all of our clients.  Please visit our website for further information.       

Auto insurers are clearly in the driver's seat when it comes to paying claims, using the "delay, deny, defend" strategy to wear down their insureds has proven profitable for the insurers, and has done nothing for consumers. Here's the irony, if the insurance companies are reducing the amount of money they have to pay out in claims, and have targeted soft tissue injury claims to improve their bottom lines, (using what can only be described as harassment tactics--painting the insured as a defrauder, denying claims, making lawsuits expensive, failing to return repeat communications), you would think that this would at least lead to a savings that the consumer would appreciably feel in lowered premiums. Not so. The time has come to fight back.

What if, in the passenger example, you did not have automobile insurance? Well, the law in New Jersey requires that the injured person next turn to any "insured resident relative" who must provide the PIP benefits to you.  If neither you nor a "resident relative" insure a motor vehicle, then you would look to the "host" vehicle's insurance policy (the owner of the vehicle you were in at the time of your injury) for PIP benefits. 

• "Delay, deny, defend" is the battle cry for the auto insurance industry to protect their multi-billion dollar empire. In a recent report filed by CNN's Drew Griffin, he uncovered that this practice is rampant among the nation's auto insurance companies when people are injured in what insurance representatives consider a "minor impact" auto accident.   New Jersey attorneys representing persons who have suffered injuries in auto accidents have long experienced first hand these tactics of the nation's largest insurance companies.  Throughout the past decade I have represented many individuals that were involved in what the insurance company deemed a "minor impact" and as a result of the accident they suffered serious permanent injuries such as a herniated disc. Many times the injuries were so debilitating that after multiple steroid injections, extensive narcotics usage, physical therapy and chiropractic care, spinal surgery became the only option.   The suffering was very real.

• The auto insurance companies do not want the public to understand the most important of Newton's Laws on Physics.  Energy does not dissapear, it is transmitted to the impacted vehicle and hence to the occupants.  Often times at trial, after years of delays from the insurance company,  defense counsel will blow up a photo of the impacted vehicle that does not show significant property damage. A strategy frequently successful in having jurors draw an inference that the injuries claimed by the plaintiff are either untrue or if true they must have been from some other cause unrelated to the auto accident.  The CNN news story referenced above did an excellent job exposing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to insurance companies doing whatever it takes to put corporate profits above the interests of those very individuals they are supposed to help.  

According to a New Jersey Citizen consumer advocate organization, Geico sets it's rates based upon factors such as  level of education and job status.    Geico denied these allegations which some say may ultimately translate into discrimation on racial lines.

"New Jersey Citizen Action said it obtained 449 rate quotes from Geico's Web site and found the average quote for those without a college degree was 19 percent higher than for those who have one. It also found the average quote for those with a blue collar-type job was 27 percent higher than those with a professional job."   read more.