New Jersey Liability Car Insraunce

Liability is a legal term referring to who is responsible for something. In the case of car insurance it would be who ever was at fault in an accident (for example if you ran into the back of another car, you would be "liable" for damages to that vehicle and any hospital bills resulting from injury.

If you are held liable for an incident, and refuse or are unable to pay, the injured party can sue you to recover damages, which can be financially crippling for life.

As a result of this, all drivers on the roads of the United States are required to have a minimum level of liability insurance, in New Jersey the amount of liability insurance required by law is referred to as 15/30/5 insurance. Exactly what this means will be explained below.

In all states, the minimum amount of liability insurance required is referred to by three numbers. The first is the maximum amount of money (in thousands), that will be covered to an injury to a single person in the event of an accident (so in the case of New Jersey, $15,000). The second number is the total amount that will be covered for personal injury in the event of an accident. In New Jersey this is $30,000, which is paid to the first people that make a successful claim until that fund is used up. After that any remaining injured parties can sue you for damages.

The final number refers to the amount of property damage that will be covered by your insurance if you are liable for an accident (so damage to someones vehicle). In the state of New Jersey this is $5000.

Almost all insurance agencies will let you purchase more than the minimum 15/30/5 liability coverage for a higher premium. With the cost of hospital bills and vehicles, the minimum liability coverage is not likely to be sufficient to cover all the costs of a serious accident, so having additional coverage will result in you having less out of pocket costs if you should make a mistake.

Having more liability coverage is not a license to drive irresponsibly, and you should remember that for every accident, your premiums will go up further and you will still have to pay a deductible, even if you have sufficient liability coverage to cover all the costs of the accident.

Once you have bought NJ car insurance or when you are searching for a quote the details of the amount of liability coverage you have should be made openly available to you by the insurance agency. If you are unsure you can pick up the phone and ring your local agent, who will be able to explain to you exactly what you are covered for and under what circumstances.

Never be afraid to ask questions if you are unsure, and always keep an eye out for lower premiums that offer the same amount of coverage.