If the driver who hit you had no insurance, or nowhere near enough of it, New Jersey law moves the next layer of protection onto your own policy. It's called uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and in this state it isn't something you have to remember to add. On a Standard policy it's built in, at limits the Legislature just raised.
This page sticks to what's specifically true in New Jersey: the exact limits, the deadlines, the steps you have to take before you settle, and the one policy choice that quietly removes the coverage.
What New Jersey requires, and the 2026 minimums
Under N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1, every standard auto liability policy issued in the state has to include uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage, and those limits track your liability limits.1 So when New Jersey raised its minimum liability limits, UM and UIM rose with them.
The increase came from P.L. 2022, c.87, phased in over two steps. From January 1, 2023 the floor was 25/50/25. As of January 1, 2026 it's 35/70/25: $35,000 per person and $70,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage, on every policy issued or renewed on or after that date.23 The Department of Banking and Insurance laid this out in Bulletin No. 25-06 and reminded insurers that the same minimums apply to liability, UM, and UIM alike.2
You can buy more, and it's cheap protection. Insurers have to offer UM/UIM up to at least $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident.3 A serious hospital stay burns through $35,000 fast, so higher limits usually pay for themselves.
How UM and UIM actually differ here
UM applies when the at-fault driver had no insurance at all, or fled and was never identified in a hit-and-run.4 UIM is the one people misunderstand. It's gap coverage: it fills the space between the other driver's liability limit and your own UIM limit, and it pays only when your UIM limit is higher than the other driver's liability limit.14
Here's how that plays out. Say the driver who hit you carries the 35/70 minimum and you carry $100,000 in UIM. If your injuries are worth $90,000, you collect $35,000 from his insurer and up to $55,000 from your own UIM.4 But if you also carry only 35/70, your UIM sits at the same level as his liability, there's no gap, and UIM pays nothing. New Jersey subtracts the at-fault driver's full available limit whether or not it was actually paid.5 That's why matching the bare state minimum on your own policy can leave you exposed.
The Basic policy quietly removes it
New Jersey sells two kinds of auto policy, and the difference matters here. The mandatory UM/UIM requirement, and the 2022 increases, apply to the Standard policy. They do not reach the Basic policy under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-3.1.12 A Basic policy carries no uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage unless you separately ask for it and pay for it. If you bought the cheapest policy on the lot, check this first, because it can mean an uninsured driver leaves you with nothing to claim against.
Property damage and the first $500
UM/UIM in New Jersey isn't only about injuries. The coverage also reaches damage to your car and property from an uninsured or underinsured driver, with an aggregate limit of $25,000 and a $500 deductible you absorb before it pays.3 If your vehicle lost market value even after a correct repair, that loss is handled separately on our New Jersey diminished value page.
Steps you have to take before you settle
This is where New Jersey UIM claims fall apart. You can't simply take the at-fault driver's insurance money and then turn to your own carrier. Under the procedure the New Jersey Supreme Court approved in Rutgers Casualty Insurance Co. v. Vassas, you first have to exhaust the other driver's liability limits, and before you sign a release you have to notify your own UIM carrier and give it a chance to consent.5 The reason is subrogation. Your insurer has the right to pursue the at-fault driver to recover what it pays you, and a general release you signed would wipe that right out. Settle without consent and you can forfeit the UIM claim.5
Two clocks are running
UM/UIM coverage is a contract benefit, so the deadline to bring the claim against your own insurer is the six-year contract statute of limitations. In Green v. Selective Insurance Co., the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the six years runs from the date of the accident, not from a later denial.6
Don't let that lull you. A shorter clock controls the case underneath it. To win a UIM claim you have to prove the other driver was at fault, and the personal-injury deadline for that is two years from the crash under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2.7 New Jersey courts have dismissed UIM claims when the injured person let the two-year window against the at-fault driver expire. Many policies also shorten the UM/UIM filing period by contract, and courts here have enforced those shorter periods, so read your own policy. If you need the official crash record to support the claim, you can order it through New Jersey crash reports.
Your tort option still limits what you can recover
Turning to UM/UIM doesn't undo the tort option you picked when you bought the policy. If you're on the Limitation on Lawsuit option (the "verbal threshold") under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8, you can recover pain-and-suffering damages from your own UM/UIM coverage only if your injury fits one of the six statutory categories, among them a displaced fracture, a permanent injury, or significant scarring.8 Economic losses such as medical bills and lost wages aren't subject to that threshold. If you chose the unlimited right to sue, no threshold applies.8
When your own insurer stalls
A UM/UIM claim is a claim against your own company, which makes the incentives awkward: the insurer deciding your payout is the one you've paid premiums to for years. New Jersey answered that with the Insurance Fair Conduct Act, signed in 2022 as P.L. 2021, c.388. It gives a UM/UIM claimant a direct cause of action against the insurer for unreasonably delaying or denying benefits, and it lets a court award damages of up to three times the applicable coverage limit, plus reasonable attorney's fees, litigation costs, and interest.9 The Act is limited to uninsured and underinsured motorist claims, which is exactly the situation this page covers.
None of this runs itself, and the exhaustion and consent steps are where a single signed release at the wrong moment can end an otherwise good claim. If you're weighing a UM or UIM claim, find a New Jersey attorney who handles them.
This is general information about New Jersey law, not legal advice.
Sources
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New Jersey Revised Statutes 17:28-1.1, Required coverage; exceptions. https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-17/section-17-28-1-1/
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New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, Bulletin No. 25-06. https://www.nj.gov/dobi/bulletins/blt25_06.pdf
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P.L. 2022, c.87 (amending N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1). https://pub.njleg.gov/Bills/2022/PL22/87_.HTM
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New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage. https://www.nj.gov/dobi/autoplanner/frmuninsandundinschoice.htm
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Rutgers Casualty Insurance Co. v. Vassas, 139 N.J. 163 (1995). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1934039/rutgers-cas-ins-co-v-vassas/
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Green v. Selective Insurance Co., 144 N.J. 344 (1996). https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/supreme-court/1996/a-74-95-opn.html
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New Jersey Courts, Statute of Limitations FAQ (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2). https://www.njcourts.gov/faq/what-statute-of-limitations-claim-my-case
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New Jersey Model Civil Jury Charge 5.33, Limitation on Lawsuit Option (N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8). https://www.njcourts.gov/sites/default/files/charges/5.33.pdf
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New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act, P.L. 2021, c.388 (N.J.S.A. 17:29BB). https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2020/PL21/388_.HTM