The proof is overwhelming.  NJ auto insurance carriers were completely wrong.   As I stated in a prior blog entry, I fought for a client by the name of Serrano because a New Jersey trial court judge ruled that he shouldn’t recover because his injuries did not have a serious impact on his life.   I fought this decision with a team of other prominent NJ trial lawyers and the NJ Supreme Court finally ruled that a plaintiff need not prove that the accident had a serious impact on his or her life.   Basically the high court said that the manner in which the lower courts have been analyzing an interpreting the law in automobile limited tort/verbal threshold cases was completely wrong since 1999 when a new law (AICRA) was enacted by the NJ legislature.  
 
Upon the release of Serrano v. Serrano in 2005, NJ auto insurance companies claimed that due to the Supreme Court decision that NJ auto insurance premiums will go through the roof.   This simply is not and was not true.
 
In fact, to the opposite, the New Jersey Lawyer Newspaper recently reported that in 2006, 36 rate requests were approved by the NJ Department of Banking and Insurance.   Out of the 36, 27 were decreases as steep at 14.8 percent  (law requires decreases in premiums if insurance company profits get too large).
 
My question is: how could these experienced insurance company experts be so wrong?  Perhaps it was just a ploy by the insurance companies to the NJ legislature to change the law (again) to restrict the rights of innocent accident victims?
 
On TV, I am constantly seeing auto insurance company commercials.   This leads me to believe that auto insurance companies have a large surplus of funds (profit) at their disposal.  I believe, as lawyer fighting for the rights of innocent injured accident victims, that money should be paid to attempt to make an injured victim whole again.   No amount of money in the world can bring back someone’s good health.    But some money can make an injured person more comfortable especially if that person has to live with pain and restrictions for the rest of their life due to someone else’s carelessness.  This money should be going to these innocent victims, not to line the insurance companies pockets.
 
Here is a link to the New Jersey Lawyer Newspaper article titled: “The Premium Deceit” which explains the issue more in depth:  
 
http://www.njlnews.com/printablearticle.php?title=The%20Premium%20Deceit

The author, Michael L. Saile, Jr., Esq. of Saile & Saile LLP, Attorneys-at-Law focuses his practice on fighting for plaintiffs’ personal injury victim’s rights in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  We handle all serious injuries, car accidents (both limited and full tort), wrongful death, slip & fall downs, construction accidents, Septa, NJ Transit, and other cases other cases. We are located just outside of Philadelphia in lower Bucks County.  Please visit our personal injury only website at www.pa-nj-injurylawyer.com for more injury information.