Automobile liability insurance coverage in New Jersey is available at an annual cost of $360, known as the Dollar-a-Day policy. This particular coverage is directed at low income car owners. I want to warn New Jersey consumers who might be interested in this type of coverage that notwithstanding their limited income, in purchasing this policy they are paying a significant premium for extreme limited coverage. It could be argued that the police provides no coverage at all.
These policies do not protect the insured, the insured's family, or innocent persons that are injured by the negligence if the insured in the accident involving a motor vehicle.
This "cheap" policy provides personal injury protection coverage that, when analyzed, becomes laughable. The Dollar-a-Day policy requires a premium of $360 a year and provides insurance coverage for a driver's emergency medical care. There is also a catastrophic injury clause with am almost impossible burden to reach.
There is no insurance coverage for any other medical expenses incurred by a driver or a passenger in his or her vehicle. There is no liability insurance coverage to compensate an injured person from the results of the driver's negligence actions. There is no insurance coverage for what is known as uninsured motor vehicle coverage or under-insured motor vehicle coverage, which type provides compensation to an insured, an insured's family member, or passenger, when another motor vehicle operator has negligently caused an accident, resulting in injuries when that driver has similar Dollar-a-Day coverage, or no coverage at all.
For example, a seriously injured person involved in a motor vehicle accident recently came to our office seeking legal representation. We unfortunately had to inform him that although he was in no way at fault in causing the accident and had serious disabilities arising from the accident, he had no viable claim in Court because he had a Dollar-a-Day insurance policy, as did the owner/driver of the vehicle that caused the accident. This man was left with absolutely no remedy. A person in this situation could always file a Complaint against the offending driver, but the likelihood of his/her ever collecting any money in compensation for injuries is nil.
In other words, in purchasing this type of coverage, a person of limited means pays a $360 annual premium and in effect, gets nothing in return except satisfying the New Jersey requirement for having insurance coverage on an owned motor vehicle. Therefore, I urge car owners to understand that this type of insurance is extremely expensive, given that it provides no real protection for the insured, the insured's family, or innocent third persons.
