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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
Where the vehicles touched is only part of a rear-end collision claim. The sequence before impact, the injuries that followed and the insurance available can all affect what happens next. Even when the damage seems straightforward, a claim can become disputed over a lane change, an earlier impact or the connection between the crash and medical treatment.
The Epstein Law Firm represents people injured in New Jersey rear-end accidents. We investigate the events leading to the collision and review the medical and insurance records together. Our car accident practice addresses the broader claim process; a rear-end case calls for particular attention to stopping distance, vehicle movement and the order of impacts.
Start with what you know rather than trying to settle the fault question yourself. Describe whether you were stopped or moving, what you saw before impact and whether more than one vehicle struck yours. Bring photographs, the police report number and the insurance information available to you.
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A rear-end damage pattern identifies contact points, but the surrounding events still matter. Was traffic slowing? Had a vehicle just entered the lane? Was one car pushed into another? Witness accounts, video and the positions of the vehicles can help distinguish competing explanations.
New Jersey’s civil jury instruction on traffic-law violations addresses following more closely than is reasonable and prudent. Speed, traffic and road conditions matter to that assessment. The investigation should apply the relevant rule to the actual sequence rather than assume that the rear vehicle’s location answers every question about responsibility.
Preserve the evidence you have without altering it. Keep complete video files, including the time before and after the collision, rather than only a short clip of the impact. Record witness contact information and identify nearby cameras for counsel to investigate. Do not place yourself in danger or enter private property to collect material.
Explain your symptoms and concerns to an appropriate healthcare professional. Tell the provider about the collision and your relevant prior health history. This page cannot determine whether a particular symptom was caused by the crash or what treatment you need.
For the legal review, keep discharge instructions, follow-up recommendations, bills and records of missed work. Note when a symptom was first noticed and how it affected ordinary activities. Describe changes accurately, including improvement; a useful record does not require exaggerating or minimizing the experience.
The Epstein Law Firm can review the medical documentation alongside the collision evidence. Questions about prior symptoms, later treatment or more than one impact need individual analysis. Neither a photograph of limited vehicle damage nor a large repair estimate supplies a medical diagnosis.
Personal injury protection, commonly called PIP, can pay covered medical expenses regardless of who caused the accident. Liability coverage addresses claims against a responsible driver. Those functions are different, so an unresolved fault dispute does not by itself tell you which coverage should receive a medical bill. New Jersey’s insurance department explains the available coverage types.
Bring the declarations page and any coverage-selection documents for the policy in effect on the crash date. If you selected health insurance as primary for auto injuries, the payment order may differ. The state’s health-insurer-for-PIP guidance explains that choice and its limitations. Confirm the actual coverage rather than assuming every household selected the same arrangement.
Keep insurer letters and claim numbers organized by the issue they concern. A vehicle-repair decision, a medical-benefit decision and an injury settlement proposal can involve different questions. Ask what a proposed agreement covers before treating payment for one part of the loss as resolution of the entire matter.
An insurer may accept that its driver made contact yet dispute the extent of injury or the amount of loss. A separate dispute may concern which vehicle caused an earlier impact in a chain collision. Ask which issue is actually contested so that the response addresses the evidence the claim needs.
For a New Jersey negligence claim, comparative negligence can reduce damages by the injured person’s share of fault. Recovery is not barred when that share is no greater than the combined negligence of the parties against whom recovery is sought. A percentage proposed in negotiations should be examined against the collision evidence, not accepted merely because it appears in an insurer’s letter.
Your lawsuit option is another distinct question. When the limitation-on-lawsuit provision applies, a claim for pain and suffering must satisfy the statutory injury threshold. The rule does not mean that every rear-end injury qualifies or that the absence of a broken bone necessarily ends the inquiry. N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8 identifies the qualifying categories and medical-proof requirements. We can review the policy and medical evidence together rather than treating fault, coverage and injury proof as interchangeable issues.
A useful file connects each document to the question it helps answer:
Keep documents even when they seem unfavorable or incomplete. Tell counsel about previous injuries, another recent accident or uncertainty in your recollection. These details are better addressed during the investigation than left unexplained when an insurer raises them later.
The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance consumer-assistance page provides a route for insurance questions and complaints. Before contacting the department, gather the insurer’s name, policy and claim numbers, relevant letters and a short account of the problem. Keep the tracking number and copies of anything submitted.
An agency inquiry is different from a lawsuit or the policy’s own dispute procedure. Continue reviewing notices and deadlines while a complaint is pending. The department’s involvement does not promise a payment or resolve every factual disagreement about the collision.
New Jersey generally allows two years after accrual for a personal-injury action, subject to exceptions under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2. A claim involving a public entity may require notice within 90 days; the State’s tort-claim guidance explains the separate process. Have counsel identify the proper defendant, recipient and deadline instead of assuming that a police report or insurer notification serves every purpose.
The firm’s reported cases include a $600,000 rear-end settlement involving wrist and neck surgery. It also reports a $450,000 settlement for a driver who struck the rear of a truck entering the roadway from a work area, in a case where responsibility was contested. These examples illustrate why the sequence and supporting evidence deserve attention even when the points of impact are clear. The firm’s results page describes the matters; neither result predicts the value or outcome of another case.
Tell our team what happened before the impact, what treatment you have received and what the insurers have said. The Epstein Law Firm can discuss the investigation and the records needed to assess your options. Contact the firm to arrange a consultation about your New Jersey rear-end accident.
Tell our team what you remember about the impacts, the treatment you have received and any insurance response. Bring the records you have so we can discuss the collision evidence, applicable coverage and disputed issues in your rear-end accident claim.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case depends on its own facts, evidence, and applicable law.
These excerpts describe experiences with the firm. They are not identified as cases in this practice area and do not predict another outcome.
“George Morton, Esq. of the Epstein Law Firm is a brilliant attorney who helped my wife after a traumatic, near-death incident when we were pedestrians struck by a car on the sidewalk.”
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“Very happy with our experience with The Epstein Law Firm! Michael Epstein did everything possible to ensure we got the best possible outcome. He was there during a very difficult time in our lives when our daughter was injured.”
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These answers provide general information about New Jersey rear-end collision claims. The collision evidence, medical findings and applicable insurance policies can change the analysis.
A rear impact is important evidence, but it does not eliminate the need to establish how the collision happened. New Jersey requires drivers to leave a following distance that is reasonable for the speed, traffic and road conditions. The court’s model instruction treats a violation of that following-distance rule as negligence. The disputed question may be whether the driver violated the rule in the circumstances of your crash.
Preserve the complete sequence, including any lane change or earlier impact, rather than just a photograph of the damaged bumper. Witness accounts, vehicle positions and available recordings help test competing explanations. Responsibility can involve more than one driver, and the location of damage alone does not answer every question about fault.
Sources: New Jersey Courts: Model Civil Jury Charge 5.30D, Violation of Traffic Act; N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1: Comparative negligence and recovery.
Possibly. Under New Jersey’s comparative-negligence statute, your negligence must not exceed the negligence of the person, or combined persons, against whom you seek recovery. An otherwise recoverable damages award is reduced by your percentage of fault. For a two-driver collision, being equally responsible does not by itself bar recovery, but being more responsible than the other driver generally does.
An insurer’s proposed percentage deserves an explanation tied to the evidence. Ask what conduct it attributes to you and which records support that conclusion. A claim that you stopped unexpectedly, for example, needs to be considered with the traffic conditions and the following driver’s conduct. Do not treat an adjuster’s allocation as a court’s final decision.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1: Comparative negligence and recovery; NJDOBI: Auto Comparative Negligence Settlement FAQs.
Applicable personal injury protection, or PIP, coverage can pay covered accident-related medical expenses without first deciding who caused the crash. That is a different issue from the claim against the negligent driver’s liability insurance. The available benefits depend on the policy and the person seeking coverage; PIP is not a promise that every expense will be paid in full.
Give your treatment providers the relevant insurance information and keep copies of bills and coverage correspondence. If your policy designates health insurance as primary, that choice can change which insurer pays first. Ask for a clear explanation of which coverage applies, the deductible and any disputed bill. Waiting for the liability investigation to finish is not a substitute for identifying the medical-benefit route.
Sources: NJDOBI: Selecting Your Health Insurer for PIP Option; NJDOBI: New Jersey Auto Insurance Buyer’s Guide.
It does not automatically prevent every claim, but it can restrict recovery for pain and suffering. When New Jersey’s limitation-on-lawsuit option applies, the injury must satisfy the statutory threshold. The listed categories include displaced fractures, significant scarring or disfigurement, loss of a fetus, dismemberment, death and a qualifying permanent injury. A painful injury is not automatically a legally permanent injury.
This issue needs the policy documents and medical evidence, not simply the label “rear-end accident.” The option concerns noneconomic damages; it does not mean all medical benefits or economic-loss claims disappear. Have the applicable coverage and injury documentation reviewed before assuming either that you have no claim or that a diagnosis alone guarantees threshold eligibility.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8: Tort exemption and limitation on lawsuit options; NJDOBI: Standard Auto Insurance Policy and the Right to Sue.
Yes. CDC guidance explains that some mild traumatic brain injury or concussion symptoms may appear hours or days after an injury. A delayed headache, dizziness or difficulty concentrating warrants medical attention, but those symptoms can also have other causes. Neither an online description nor the timing of symptoms can establish your diagnosis or prove what caused them.
Tell a healthcare professional about the collision, when each symptom began and whether it is worsening. Follow medical instructions about recovery and returning to driving or work. Seek emergency help for danger signs such as a worsening headache that does not go away, repeated vomiting, seizures or increasing difficulty staying awake. Keep the medical records and instructions so the claim reflects what clinicians actually found.
Sources: CDC: Signs and Symptoms of Mild TBI and Concussion; CDC: What to Do After a Mild TBI or Concussion.
The general New Jersey deadline for a personal-injury lawsuit is two years after the claim accrues, subject to exceptions that require individual review. That is not a universal deadline for every step after a crash. A claim involving a public entity or public employee can require a tort-claim notice much earlier, generally within 90 days of accrual.
Identify the vehicles and their owners promptly, especially if a government vehicle was involved. A State notice route is not automatically the correct route for a county, municipality or separate authority. Give counsel the collision date and any notices or insurance correspondence rather than calculating the deadline from memory. An ongoing discussion with an adjuster should not be used as the basis for delaying a deadline review.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2: Actions for injury caused by wrongful act; New Jersey Treasury: Tort and Contract Claim Notices.
Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may provide another claim route if the applicable policy includes it. Uninsured coverage addresses crashes caused by an uninsured driver. Underinsured coverage depends on a comparison with the other driver’s available coverage and your applicable underinsured limits; a loss being expensive does not alone establish that this coverage pays.
Collect the policy declarations and the other insurer’s coverage information before assuming there is no further protection. New Jersey’s Basic and Standard policies differ, and you should not assume everyone has the same benefits. Have the coverage and any proposed settlement reviewed together so the next decision is based on the actual policies. The existence of coverage also does not remove the need to establish fault and supported losses.
Sources: NJDOBI: New Jersey Auto Insurance Buyer’s Guide; NJDOBI: Standard Auto Insurance Policy Coverage Comparison.
No. Vehicle damage and bodily injury involve different losses and insurance coverages. Collision coverage can address damage to your own car, while a claim against another driver’s property-damage liability coverage depends on that driver’s responsibility. PIP concerns covered injury expenses and does not pay to repair your vehicle. A repair payment therefore does not, by itself, describe the status of every accident-related claim.
Read each offer and proposed release to identify exactly which loss it addresses. Keep repair estimates and vehicle photographs separate from treatment records and medical bills, while preserving both sets. If the documents use broad settlement language or you are unsure what rights would be released, get them reviewed before signing. Do not infer the scope of an agreement from the check amount alone.
Sources: NJDOBI: Filing an Auto Damage Claim with Your Own Insurance Company; NJDOBI: Standard Auto Insurance Policy Coverage Comparison.
You can request a clear explanation from the adjuster or supervisor and use the insurer’s applicable review process. New Jersey’s Department of Banking and Insurance also accepts insurance inquiries and written complaints. Its consumer assistance service and Insurance Ombudsman address coverage and claims-processing concerns, although a complaint does not guarantee a payment or resolve every disputed fact about the collision.
Keep the claim number, policy information, relevant correspondence and a short timeline of the unanswered issue. Explain whether the problem concerns medical bills, vehicle damage, coverage or responsibility; those are different questions. DOBI assigns a tracking number to a complaint. Keep any legal deadline under separate review while assistance is pending rather than assuming the complaint takes the place of protecting a court claim.
Sources: NJDOBI: How to Request Assistance; NJDOBI: Office of Insurance Claims Ombudsman.
Bring the collision report, available photographs or recordings, witness details, insurance documents and correspondence, medical records or bills, and information about missed work. You do not need a perfectly organized file before asking for a review. Identify what is missing and who may have it, rather than filling gaps with guesses about what another driver saw or did.
Keep original files and a dated account of what you personally remember, distinguishing your observations from later information. For a chain reaction, note the impacts you felt without claiming a sequence you could not observe. These materials help separate the collision investigation from injury and coverage questions. Insurers may also request supporting documents, so retain copies of what you provide and the accompanying requests.
Sources: NJDOBI: Auto Comparative Negligence Settlement FAQs; NJDOBI: Filing an Auto Damage Claim with Your Own Insurance Company.
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The Epstein Law Firm
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