It's the law in New Jersey that you must have insurance on your car.  The typical New Jersey policy includes coverage for payment of your accident related medical bills (No-Fault), as well as coverage for liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist's benefits.  A few key points are worth knowing if you want to make sure you and your family are adequately insured and not setting yourself up for later problems in the event of an accident.

1st- Do not limit your right to have $250,000.00 in No-Fault coverage.  This is the standard coverage in New Jersey.  This is the coverage that pays your accident related medical bills.  You can get less coverage, and save a few dollars on premiums, but you may live to regret the decision if you or a family member ever gets badly injured by another's negligence and require extensive - and expensive- medical care.

2nd- Purchase liability limits as high as you can afford.  At least  $300,000.00 in coverage is recommended.  Your liability coverage affords you protection, up to your coverage amount, in the event you or a family member injures another as as a result of your negligent operation of a car.  If you have low limits and cause an accident where someone gets severely injured or you injure multiple car occupants, after your liability limits are exhausted, you will be personally exposed for the remainder of the value of the injured person's claim.

3rd- Lots of people break the law everyday by driving with no insurance at all.  If you're unfortuante enough to be hit by one of these scofflaws, you will need to go to your own insurance company for compensation for your injuries under your uninsured motorists(UM) coverage.  Your UM coverage should be at least as high as your liability limits, and hopefully higher.  After all, it makes sense that you should at least have as much protection for yourself, via your UM coverage, as you do to cover someone else's claim against you(liability coverage).

4th- Even more prevalent than uninsured drivers are the drivers that maintain minimal liability policy limits of $15,000.00.  When that person whacks you or your family member and your injuries are worth more then $15,000.00, you will need to go to your own company and claim on your underinsured motorists benefits (UIM).  UIM coverage should also be as high-if not higher-than your liability coverage, for the same reasons previously stated about UM coverage.

5th- Avoid the Lawsuit Threshold option on your policy, also known as the Verbal Threshold.  This insurance policy endorsement severely limits your right to make a claim unless you sustain a permanent injury as documented by objective medical evidence such as an MRI, EMG or CT scan.  A permanent injury is defined as an injury that will not heal to normal function with further medical treatment.  In the state legislators' attempt to save New Jersey residents some money on premiums, all New Jersey policy holders automatically get saddled with the limitation on their policy and consequently pay 30-40% less on premiums than if they did not have the limitiation.  If you can swing it, opt out of the limitation, pay the extra money and maintain your unfettered right to make a claim for any type of injury caused by another's negligence.

6th- Watch your ass because there are alot of bad drivers out there.  By being proactive in creating an insurance policy that best protects you, you're doing all you can to safeguard you and your family from the inequities that often result from being involved in a motor vehicle accident.