Recovering Full and Fair Compensation for Your Injuries

It’s a pretty common occurrence. You have a friend with a motorcycle and you need to go somewhere. Your friend offers you a ride and you accept. Unfortunately, he makes a bad decision while on the road and you suffer an injury. There may not have even been another driver. What are you options? How can you recover compensation for your losses?

The first thing you’ll want to do after a motorcycle crash is seek necessary medical care. Your health insurance provider may pay for most or all of your treatment. Unfortunately, that won’t compensate you for lost income, loss of companionship or consortium, or physical pain and suffering. To recover any of those losses, you will need to seek benefits under an automobile insurance policy.

In New Jersey, which is a “no-fault” insurance state for purposes of motor vehicle insurance, you must look to your own insurance company for reimbursement of lost wages, pain and suffering and loss of consortium. When you do, you may be surprised to encounter delays or attempts to deny coverage. Remember that your insurance provider is a for-profit business, and maximizes profits and shareholder value by minimizing payouts for claims. That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to hire an experienced attorney as soon as possible.

In addition to insurance coverage, you can also file a personal injury lawsuit for damages. As a general rule, that legal action will be based on a theory of negligence. You’ll have to show

• that the defendant (your friend or any other potentially responsible party) failed to act as a reasonable person would,
• that the failure to do so caused an accident
• that, as a result of the accident, you suffered actual losses