No-Fault Arbitration

When an individual is injured in an automobile accident, other than with a commercial vehicle or a motorcycle, it is imperative that all medical bills incurred as a result of the injuries sustained are addressed, in conjunction with any possible personal injury litigation.  No-Fault Arbitration, which is a binding arbitration process, established under the New Jersey Statutes, (N.J.S. 39:6A-2 et seq ) is complicated by nature since the Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) oversees the enactment of provisions established under the Automobile Insurance Claims Reduction Act (AICRA)  in conjunction with the insured’s automobile insurance carrier, in a quasi-judicial program serviced presently by the National Arbitration Forum. The provisions of an automobile insurance policy, issued in New Jersey, provide for many requirements and hurtles which an injured party must navigate through in order to successfully obtain the No-Fault benefits (med-pay, death, essential services, income continuation) to which one is entitled.. Customarily, an Assignment of Benefits (AOB) is given to the patient by the treating physician/facility whereby the rights to file a claim for a binding arbitration is given to that medical provider. Throughout the process, the patient’s cooperation is absolutely necessary. Due to the complexity of the arbitration process, many personal injury attorneys do not even enter into this challenging arena of perfecting  binding No-Fault arbitration claims, which claims  have an enormous bearing on the monetary  compensation aspect of the concurrent personal injury case. Coordination of the benefits requires expertise in a broad spectrum of legal disciplines and should be left to an experienced trial attorney with  No-Fault (PIP) expertise.

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