Guide · Insurance & PIP
The Verbal Threshold: The One Line in Your Policy That Decides Whether You Can Sue
The short answer
When you bought your New Jersey auto policy you chose “Limitation on Lawsuit” or “No Limitation on Lawsuit.” If you chose Limitation, also called the verbal threshold, you can only sue for pain and suffering if your injury fits one of six categories in the law. The cheaper option is the one that limits you.
You made this choice. You probably do not remember making it.
Somewhere in the paperwork, years ago, you were offered two options, and one of them was a few dollars a month cheaper.
- No Limitation on Lawsuit. You keep the full right to sue for pain and suffering. Costs more.
- Limitation on Lawsuit, the verbal threshold. Cheaper. And it means you cannot sue the other driver for your pain and suffering unless your injury clears a legal bar.
Most New Jersey drivers took the cheaper one, because the cheaper one is the default that gets quoted and because nobody explained what it meant.
Important, and reassuring: this does not touch your medical bills or your lost wages. PIP still pays your treatment. Your economic losses are still recoverable. What the verbal threshold limits is your ability to be compensated for the pain, the suffering, and the loss of the life you had.
The six categories
If you have the verbal threshold, you can sue for pain and suffering only if your injury falls into one of these six, set out in the statute (N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8):
- Death
- Dismemberment
- Significant disfigurement or significant scarring
- Displaced fractures
- Loss of a fetus
- A permanent injury
The first five are, thankfully, rare. Which means almost every real fight in New Jersey happens over number six.
What “permanent” actually means, legally
This is where cases are won and lost, so read this part slowly.
The law defines a permanent injury as one where the body part or organ has not healed to function normally, and will not heal to function normally with further medical treatment.
That is a much narrower definition than the everyday meaning of the word.
- A sprain that hurts for four months and then resolves: not permanent. It healed.
- Muscle spasm that responds to therapy: not permanent.
- A herniated disc, confirmed on MRI, that is not going to go back to normal no matter how much therapy you do: this is the fight, and it is a fight worth having.
And it cannot rest on your word. New Jersey courts require objective, credible medical evidence. That means imaging, testing, findings a doctor can see and measure. “My back still hurts” is true, and it is not enough on its own.
The 60-day certification, and why the calendar matters
If your case depends on the permanent injury category, the law requires a physician’s certification of permanency, signed under penalty of perjury by your treating physician or a board-certified physician they referred you to, based on objective clinical evidence.
It has to be served on the other side within 60 days of the date the defendant files their answer to your complaint.
Miss that window and the case can be dismissed. Not weakened. Dismissed.
This is one of the clearest reasons to have a lawyer handling a verbal threshold case, and to have them early enough that your medical record actually supports the certification when the time comes. You cannot manufacture objective evidence in month eleven.
One thing worth asking about
The verbal threshold generally governs claims between drivers covered by New Jersey’s no-fault auto system. There are situations where it may not apply at all, and being struck by a commercial vehicle is the most common one people ask about.
If a tractor-trailer, a box truck, or a commercial vehicle hit you, ask a lawyer whether the verbal threshold even applies to your case. The answer depends on specifics, and the difference between “it applies” and “it does not” is enormous. It is a five-minute question and the call is free.
Do you know which option you picked?
Most people do not. Send me a photo of your declarations page and I will read it and tell you where you stand. No charge, no obligation, no sales pitch.
Call (201) 719-1669Common questions
Does the verbal threshold stop me from recovering my medical bills?
No. PIP pays your medical bills regardless. The threshold limits only your claim for pain and suffering against the at-fault driver.
How do I know which option I have?
It is on your declarations page. If you cannot find it, we will pull the policy for you.
I have a herniated disc. Does that clear the threshold?
Often it can, but it is not automatic. It depends on the objective medical evidence and on a physician certifying permanency. This is exactly the kind of case that needs a lawyer.
I picked the cheaper option. Is my case worthless?
No. Most successful New Jersey injury cases are brought by people with the verbal threshold. It means the case has to be built properly, with real medical evidence, from the beginning.
Written and reviewed by Dominick Succardi
Personal injury attorney, admitted in New Jersey since 2014. About Dominick →