New Jersey · Pennsylvania
Injured, and not sure what happens next?
Plain answers about how injury claims actually work in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. What the deadlines are, what the insurance choice you made years ago does to your case, and what the words on the forms mean. Free, and there is nothing to buy.
We are not a law firm and we cannot tell you whether you have a claim. No law firm pays to appear here, and no firm is listed here.
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The three deadlines people miss
Almost every claim that dies before it starts dies on one of these. They are short, they are strict, and none of them wait for you to feel ready.
Two years for most injury lawsuits
Both states give you two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. New Jersey under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2, Pennsylvania under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524. There are exceptions that shorten it, and a few that extend it.
How the two years is countedDays, not years, for a work injury
Pennsylvania bars a workers' compensation claim entirely if you did not tell your employer within 120 days, and pays you from the report date rather than the injury date if you waited more than 21. New Jersey's outer limit is 90 days.
The notice rules in both statesNinety days against a public body
Hurt on public property, by a government vehicle, or by a public employee? New Jersey's Tort Claims Act requires written notice within 90 days (N.J.S.A. 59:8-8). Pennsylvania requires six months (42 Pa.C.S. § 5522). Miss it and the two-year clock never matters.
Compare the two statesThe thing most people do not know
You already made a decision about your own case
In both states, a box someone ticked on an auto policy years ago decides whether you can be compensated for pain at all. Most people do not know which box they picked.
In Pennsylvania it is called limited tort versus full tort (75 Pa.C.S. § 1705). Limited tort is cheaper, and it waives your right to recover for pain and suffering unless your injury is serious as the policy defines it, or one of six statutory exceptions applies.
In New Jersey it is the limitation on lawsuit option, usually called the verbal threshold (N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8). It blocks a claim for non-economic loss unless the injury falls into one of six categories.
Your declarations page says which one you have. It is worth finding before you do anything else.
Pennsylvania: the six exceptions
A limited tort policyholder can still recover for pain and suffering if the at-fault driver:
- is convicted of, or enters ARD for, DUI in that crash
- was driving a vehicle registered in another state
- intended to cause injury
- had no required financial responsibility
It also does not apply where you were occupying a vehicle that is not a private passenger vehicle, or where the claim is against a manufacturer or repairer over a defect.
Whether any of these fits what happened to you is exactly the kind of question we cannot answer. A lawyer can.
Two ways to use this site
Ask a question, or write the whole thing down
Ask the assistant a general question
An automated assistant that explains how the rules work in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It answers questions about the law in general. It will not tell you whether you have a case, what your claim is worth, or what your deadline is, because those are legal conclusions and it is not a lawyer.
Open the assistantBuild a written summary of what happened
Answer the questions a law firm's intake team would ask and get back a clean, organised written summary of your own situation. It is yours. Keep it, print it, or send it to a lawyer you choose. We do not send it anywhere for you and we do not choose anyone for you.
See what it asksWe cannot tell you whether you have a claim
That is not modesty, it is the law. Applying legal rules to one person's facts is practising law, and we are not lawyers. Everything here is general information. When you want to know what it means for you specifically, that question needs an attorney licensed in your state. We will say so every time, and we will help you find one without taking a cent from them.
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