What Is PIP and Who Pays Your Medical Bills After a New Jersey Crash?

After a New Jersey crash, your own auto policy pays your medical bills first through Personal Injury Protection, or PIP, regardless of who caused the accident. PIP is required under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4 and is the reason your treatment can start before anyone proves fault. Knowing how it works keeps you from getting stuck with bills you should not be paying. 

This article explains how PIP works, what medical expenses it covers, and who may pay when your benefits run out.

What PIP Covers

PIP is medical-first coverage that follows you, not the other driver. It pays for reasonable and necessary treatment after a crash, and it can also cover a portion of lost wages and the cost of essential services you can no longer perform while injured. On a standard New Jersey policy, $250,000 per person per accident is the default PIP limit, and drivers must affirmatively buy down to a lower option such as $150,000, $75,000, $50,000, or $15,000.

Even at the $15,000 election, up to $250,000 remains available for certain injuries, including permanent brain or spinal cord injury, significant disfigurement, and medically necessary treatment of other permanent or significant injuries. Wage-loss benefits are capped at $100 per week up to $5,200 total, and essential-services benefits at $12 per day up to $4,380, so buying down the PIP limit saves little and costs a great deal when treatment runs long.

Why Fault Doesn't Decide Who Pays Your Bills

The whole point of no-fault is speed. Rather than waiting for a fault fight to resolve, your PIP carrier pays your medical providers up front, so care is not delayed. PIP pays without regard to which driver was careless, and it pays before your health plan unless your household elected health insurance as primary, which shifts the order and adds a deductible.

Insurers manage PIP treatment through a decision-point-review process that can require pre-approval for certain tests and procedures, and missing those steps can lead to reduced or denied payments, which is one reason injured drivers benefit from guidance early.

That doesn't let the at-fault driver off the hook, though. Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-12, you generally can't tell a jury how much PIP paid or ask the jury to also make the at-fault driver pay you back for your deductible or copay; those are considered part of your PIP coverage, not something you can collect twice. But if you chose a PIP limit lower than the $250,000 maximum, a 2019 change to that same law lets you go after the at-fault driver for medical bills above the limit you picked. So if you only bought $15,000 in PIP and your bills hit $40,000, you can pursue the driver who caused the crash for that extra $25,000; you just can't also come after them for your $250 deductible.

The 2026 Coverage Minimums Every NJ Driver Should Know

As reported by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance⁠, the state raised its minimum auto coverage requirements on January 1, 2026, under P.L. 2022, c. 87, which amended N.J.S.A. 39:6B-1. On a standard policy, bodily injury liability now starts at $35,000 per person and $70,000 per accident, up from $25,000 and $50,000, while property damage liability remains $25,000. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage generally tracks those liability minimums.

The change applies only to policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, so an older in-force policy may still sit at the prior limits until renewal. 

The state also still allows a bare-bones Basic Policy, which carries no bodily injury liability unless a $10,000 per-accident option is added, only $5,000 in property damage liability, $15,000 in PIP, and no uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage at all. That last gap is the one that hurts most, because a driver with a Basic Policy has nothing to fall back on when the at-fault driver has no insurance.

When PIP Isn't Enough

Serious injuries routinely cost more than even a full PIP limit. When that happens, your recovery shifts to the at-fault driver’s bodily injury liability coverage and, if that driver is uninsured or underinsured, to your own UM or UIM coverage. Whether you can also recover for pain and suffering depends on the tort option on your policy and on New Jersey's no-fault system and the verbal threshold, which applies to the limitation on lawsuit option and to every Basic Policy, and is a separate question from who pays your bills.

Consider a rider or driver with $100,000 in medical bills hit by a driver whose renewed policy carries only the $35,000 minimum. PIP pays the first layer, the at-fault policy pays its limit, and your own underinsured motorist coverage can fill part of the gap that remains. Lining up these layers of coverage correctly is often what determines whether a claim is made whole.

How the Firm Handles Your PIP and Injury Claim

The Law Offices of Sander Budanitsky, L.L.C., makes sure PIP pays what it should and that the at-fault driver's insurer covers what PIP does not. Attorney Sander Budanitsky has represented injured New Jersey clients since 1996. The consultation is free, you owe no fee unless there is a recovery, and acting early protects both your benefits and your filing deadline. 

Call The Law Offices of Sander Budanitsky, L.L.C., at (908) 241-3445 and let our team review your coverage today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my own insurance pay my medical bills after a New Jersey crash?

Yes. Your PIP coverage pays your medical bills first regardless of fault, under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4. You can pursue the at-fault driver for losses that exceed your PIP limits.

How much PIP coverage do I need in New Jersey?

A standard policy offers PIP limits from $15,000 to $250,000 per person. The $250,000 limit gives the most protection for serious injuries.

Reviewed by Sander Budanitsky, Esq., admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1996.

Last reviewed: August 2026

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed New Jersey attorney.