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Knowledge, experience, and dedication have brought the lawyers of The Epstein Law Firm to the forefront of their profession. From personal injury to civil litigation, they have built a strong record of success in achieving justice for their clients.
Our practice is diverse and well-established. Recognizing that every case is unique, we always begin by listening to you.
The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. has been successfully representing clients throughout New Jersey since 1973
Every New Jersey driver is required to carry insurance. A significant number, at any given moment, do not — or carry the state minimum, which a single night in a trauma center can exhaust. When the driver who caused your crash is uninsured, underinsured, or never identified at all, the claim does not end. It changes direction: toward the uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage in your own auto policy, coverage New Jersey law requires every policy to include.
The Epstein Law Firm handles UM and UIM claims across New Jersey, frequently in the cases that need them most — hit-and-runs on the state’s highways, multi-vehicle crashes where one small policy is divided among many victims, and serious injuries caused by drivers carrying minimum limits. This page explains how UM/UIM coverage works, the traps built into it, and what to do in the first days after a crash to keep these claims intact. For a free consultation, call (201) 231-7847.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is mandated by N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1, which requires every auto liability policy issued in New Jersey to include it. The two halves of the coverage do different work:
Several features of the coverage surprise people. UM/UIM follows the insured person, not just the car: it can apply when you are a passenger, a pedestrian struck by a car, or a cyclist. It can be layered: a resident relative’s policy, an employer’s policy, and a rideshare policy may all be in play in the same crash. And it is genuinely adversarial — your own insurer defends a UM/UIM claim the way it would defend a stranger’s, including disputing your injuries and your fault share. Having “your own company” on the other side does not make the claim friendlier; it makes the paperwork rules stricter, because the policy’s notice and consent conditions are enforced to the letter.
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UM/UIM claims are lost on procedure more often than on merit. Every one of the traps below has ended a claim that should have been paid in full, usually within weeks of the crash and usually before a lawyer ever saw the file. The recurring traps:
A driver sideswipes you on the Turnpike or I-280 at night and keeps going. There is no liability policy to claim against — there is only your UM coverage, your PIP, and whatever corroboration you gathered. These cases are winnable and common, but they are assembled backward from the coverage rules: prompt police report, prompt insurer notice, damage evidence consistent with the account, and medical records that begin immediately. The victims who lose hit-and-run claims usually lose them in the first week, on reporting, not on the merits of their injuries.
New Jersey’s minimum liability limits are quickly exhausted by a single surgery. When the at-fault driver carries the minimum and your damages are serious, the liability claim resolves at the policy limit (with your UIM carrier’s consent, as explained above) and the real case becomes the UIM claim for the balance. Our firm treats these files as UIM cases from the first week, because that is where the recovery will be decided.
One negligent driver, four injured people, one per-accident limit divided four ways. Each victim’s “available” coverage from the liability policy is their fraction of the fund, and UIM fills the gap toward each victim’s own limits. These cases reward speed and coordination: the liability fund is finite, settlements must be sequenced around every claimant’s UIM consent rights, and latecomers can find the fund committed.
A crash caused by a driver excluded from the vehicle owner’s policy, or by a stolen vehicle, leaves the victim in UM territory even though an insurance policy nominally exists. Insurers litigate the boundaries — permissive use, household membership, the validity of the exclusion — and those coverage fights are legal work, distinct from the injury claim running alongside them.
A serious crash rarely produces a single claim. PIP pays the first medical bills and is not repaid from the UM/UIM recovery. The UM/UIM claim itself covers the full damages the missing or underinsured driver would owe. Third-party claims may exist in parallel: against a negligent property owner whose sight-line obstruction contributed, a bar that over-served the fleeing driver, a manufacturer whose part failed. Each claim has its own deadline, its own consent and notice conditions, and its own settlement sequencing — a global release signed for one claim can accidentally surrender another. Our intake process maps the whole claim family on day one, because the costliest UM/UIM mistakes are coordination failures: the consent never requested, the phantom-vehicle report filed late, the liability settlement signed before the UIM carrier was noticed.
The coverage analysis also runs in the other direction. If you were driving for work, your employer’s policy may add a layer; if the crash involved a rideshare vehicle, the app company’s substantial UM/UIM coverage (which New Jersey law requires transportation network companies to carry) may dwarf every other policy in the case. Finding the largest applicable coverage is not luck — it is a checklist, and it is the checklist our firm runs on every vehicle case.
A UM/UIM claim recovers the same damages categories as any New Jersey crash claim, capped by the coverage available: medical expenses beyond PIP and projected future care, lost income and diminished earning capacity, pain and suffering (the verbal threshold under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8 applies to UM claims as it does to liability claims), and property and out-of-pocket losses. In a UIM case, the amount is the difference your damages make above the at-fault driver’s exhausted limits, up to your UIM limits. In a UM case, your UM limits are the ceiling.
This arithmetic is why policy identification is the first substantive work in every serious case we handle: the at-fault driver’s liability limits, your UM/UIM limits, resident relatives’ policies, employer coverage for work-related driving, and rideshare policy layers when an app-based driver is involved — an increasingly common pattern in our rideshare accident cases. The same coverage analysis drives commercial crashes; our uninsured and underinsured truck accident page covers the trucking version. The claim deadline against the at-fault driver remains two years under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2, and UM/UIM policy conditions impose their own earlier notice dates.
The single most valuable page of your auto policy is the one almost nobody reads until after a crash. UM/UIM limits in New Jersey can be purchased up to your liability limits, and the premium difference between minimum UM/UIM coverage and robust coverage is typically modest — because actuaries know most drivers never claim it. From the claims side, the picture is the reverse: when a serious crash meets an uninsured or minimum-limits driver, your UM/UIM limits are the ceiling on your recovery for injuries someone else caused. Our consistent advice to clients, family, and friends is to carry UM/UIM limits equal to your liability limits, and to treat the uninsured-driver statistics on New Jersey roads as what they are: the probability that, in your worst crash, your own policy will be the one that pays. Reviewing your declarations page takes ten minutes; our attorneys will review it with you, free, at any consultation.
The Epstein Law Firm can review the evidence, insurance issues, and next steps that may matter in your car accident claim.
UM/UIM issues also surface constantly in town-level commuter crashes — our Nutley motor vehicle accident page walks through the local version of the same framework.
The Epstein Law Firm has represented injured New Jersey clients for decades from our Rochelle Park office, earning recognition that includes Michael J. Epstein’s selection to the New Jersey Super Lawyers Top 100 list for 2026 and an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell. TopVerdict ranked the firm’s results at the top of New Jersey lists, including the Number 1 Medical Malpractice Settlement in the state in 2024 and a Top 10 New Jersey Personal Injury Settlement that year. Read the PR Newswire release on the firm’s Top 20 U.S. medical malpractice settlement recognition, and see the firm’s post on Michael Epstein’s 2026 Personal Injury Lawyer of the Year recognition. In coverage-driven cases, where the legal work determines how much insurance exists to pay the claim at all, that depth of practice is the difference between a denied file and a funded recovery.
Our attorneys have recovered substantial verdicts and settlements for clients injured in motor vehicle and other serious accidents across New Jersey, including:
Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. What they do show is the level of preparation and persistence our firm brings to serious injury claims. Read more about our case results, or call (201) 231-7847 to talk about what your own claim may involve.
Client reviews describe the responsiveness and care our team aims to deliver in every case:
“Throughout the experience, I felt supported, well informed, and confident in the guidance I received. I truly appreciate your diligence, professionalism, and commitment to achieving a fair and favorable outcome. I would confidently recommend your firm to anyone seeking high-quality legal representation.” — Elisa, Google review
“Professional, knowledgeable, friendly; Michael Epstein is that and then some. Having been the victim of an accident that left a lasting injury, I turned to a friend to recommend an attorney. He did not hesitate to recommend Michael and his firm. Michael made me feel very comfortable through his friendly nature.” — Evaline, Google review
Read more from our clients on our Google reviews for the Rochelle Park office.
Tell The Epstein Law Firm what happened and get clear guidance about your injury claim and legal options.
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Below are answers to common questions about uninsured and underinsured motorist claims in New Jersey. This information is general and not legal advice — contact our office for guidance about your specific situation.
Yes. N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1 requires every New Jersey auto liability policy to include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. If you have a New Jersey policy, you have this coverage — the question is its limits and conditions.
Your declarations page shows the UM/UIM limits, which are often set equal to your liability limits unless you selected lower coverage in writing. Bring the policy to your consultation; the limits determine the shape of the case.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1 – UM/UIM coverage requirement (New Jersey Legislature); New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance – consumer information
Report it to police immediately — hit-and-run UM claims are conditioned on prompt reporting, typically within 24 hours to police and 30 days to your insurer. Then photograph your vehicle’s damage, gather witness information, and get medical care.
Unidentified-vehicle claims also require corroboration beyond your own account in many policy forms. The police report, damage evidence, and witnesses you collect in the first day are usually what makes the claim payable.
Not safely. Most policies require your UIM carrier’s written consent before you settle with and release the at-fault driver, because the settlement affects the carrier’s rights. Settling without consent can forfeit the UIM claim entirely.
The correct sequence is: put the UIM carrier on notice, obtain consent (carriers have a limited window to respond and may elect to advance the settlement amount to preserve their position), then settle. This sequencing is standard work for our firm.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1 – UM/UIM coverage requirement (New Jersey Legislature); New Jersey Courts – Civil Division overview
UIM applies when your damages exceed the at-fault driver’s available liability limits and your UIM limits are higher than those available limits. In multi-victim crashes, the per-accident limit divided among claimants is what counts as “available” to each.
The claim is then for the difference, up to your UIM limits. Because the trigger depends on the other driver’s limits and the number of claimants, it often cannot be evaluated until the liability claim matures — another reason the consent and notice steps must be handled early anyway.
Generally yes. UM/UIM coverage follows the insured person, so a policyholder struck by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver while walking or cycling is covered under their own (or a resident relative’s) policy.
PIP for a struck pedestrian likewise usually comes from the household policy. These non-occupant cases are routinely missed because victims assume car insurance only matters inside a car — it is one of the first things we check.
A UM/UIM claim is a claim for benefits you paid for, arising from someone else’s negligence. New Jersey regulates how insurers may surcharge for accidents, and a not-at-fault claim should not be rated like an at-fault accident.
Rate questions are secondary to the deadlines: notice and consent conditions can destroy a valid claim in the first month, while rating consequences are modest by comparison. File correctly first; discuss rating with your agent after the claim is protected.
Sources: New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance – consumer information; N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2 – two-year limitations period (New Jersey Legislature)
Many New Jersey UM/UIM policies provide for arbitration of disputes over entitlement and amount. Others proceed in Superior Court like ordinary injury cases. Your policy controls, and we identify the forum at intake.
Either way, the carrier defends the claim fully — medical causation, threshold, fault allocation — so the case is prepared to the same standard. Arbitration is faster but less forgiving of thin documentation.
Sources: New Jersey Courts – Civil Division overview; N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1 – UM/UIM coverage requirement (New Jersey Legislature)
Yes. The limitation on lawsuit option in your policy applies to pain-and-suffering recovery in UM/UIM claims just as in liability claims: the injury must fit a category under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8, such as a displaced fracture or a permanent injury.
Economic losses are unaffected by the threshold. And where the victim chose the no-threshold option on their own policy, that choice governs their UM claim as well.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8 – limitation on lawsuit option (New Jersey Legislature); New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance – consumer information
The liability claim against an identified driver carries the two-year statute of limitations (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2), but the policy conditions are faster: hit-and-run reporting within days, UM/UIM notice promptly after the crash, and consent procedures before any liability settlement.
Several clocks run at once, and the shortest one controls your first moves. An early consultation maps every deadline in your specific policy before any of them can expire.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2 – two-year limitations period (New Jersey Legislature); N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1 – UM/UIM coverage requirement (New Jersey Legislature)
The Epstein Law Firm offers free consultations and handles UM/UIM cases on a contingency fee: no legal fee unless we recover compensation for you, at a percentage set by New Jersey court rules and explained in writing at the start.
The firm advances the costs of records, experts, and arbitration or litigation. In coverage cases especially, the fee structure means our incentive is the size and completeness of your recovery.
Sources: New Jersey Courts – Rules of Court (including contingency fee rules); New Jersey Courts – Civil Division overview
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201-734-3763
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973-381-8410
The Epstein Law Firm
The Epstein Law Firm