A truck accident in Elizabeth can leave you facing thousands of dollars in medical bills before you even know which insurance company is supposed to pay them. Emergency treatment, surgery, rehabilitation, prescriptions, and follow-up care can add up quickly, and the trucking company’s insurer is not always the first source of payment.
Who pays depends on the facts of the crash and the coverage available, including personal injury protection, health insurance, workers’ compensation, and commercial truck insurance. Below, Beninato & Matrafajlo Attorneys at Law, LLC explains which insurance may pay first, what happens when coverage is not enough, and how unpaid medical bills may become part of your truck accident claim.
Personal injury protection, or PIP, is often the first source of medical payment. N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4 requires standard New Jersey automobile policies to provide PIP medical benefits without regard to fault. You generally do not have to prove that the driver caused the truck accident before covered treatment can be paid.
PIP can cover reasonable and medically necessary care, including hospital treatment, diagnostic testing, surgery, and rehabilitation. N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.2 identifies which PIP policy is primary and prevents duplicate PIP recovery for one accident. Your own PIP coverage is generally primary for you and resident relatives who are not named insureds under their own automobile policies.
Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4, a standard policy may provide up to $250,000 in PIP medical expense benefits per person, per accident. N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.3 allows a policyholder to choose lower limits. If a lower limit was not selected in writing, the policy provides $250,000.
A lower limit does not always end coverage. N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.3 preserves up to $250,000 for treatment of certain serious injuries, including permanent or significant brain injury, spinal cord injury, or disfigurement, and certain other permanent or significant injuries requiring immediate treatment.
If you have a basic policy, N.J.S.A. 39:6A-3.1 generally provides up to $15,000 in medical expense benefits per person, per accident. The statute provides up to $250,000 for specified serious injuries and qualifying immediate hospital treatment. Your declarations page and coverage selection forms can show which limit applies.
Qualifying health insurance may pay first if you selected health coverage as primary for automobile accident medical expenses. N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.3 allows that election and provides that PIP remains responsible, up to the applicable limit, for reasonable medical expenses the primary health coverage does not pay.
Having health insurance does not automatically make it primary. The election on your automobile policy matters. N.J.A.C. 11:3-14.5 also provides that Medicare and Medicaid cannot be selected as primary coverage under this option. If insurers disagree, review your coverage documents before accepting a denial or paying substantial charges yourself.
Commercial trucks generally are not “automobiles” under New Jersey’s no-fault law. N.J.S.A. 39:6A-2 defines an “automobile” primarily as a private passenger vehicle and certain individually owned pickups, vans, or similar vehicles not customarily used for business.
If the truck falls outside that definition, PIP rules tied to occupying an “automobile” do not automatically apply simply because you have a personal auto policy. Payment may instead depend on workers’ compensation if you were working, health coverage, or another applicable policy.
N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.3 requires liability policies issued in New Jersey on motor vehicles outside the statutory definition of an “automobile,” which can include commercial trucks, to provide PIP benefits to pedestrians injured in New Jersey by the insured vehicle.
A commercial truck may fall outside ordinary automobile PIP rules while its policy still provides no-fault medical benefits when that truck injures a pedestrian. If you were struck while walking in Elizabeth, the truck’s policy should be reviewed to determine whether this coverage applies.
If you were injured while performing your job, workers’ compensation may be responsible for treatment. N.J.S.A. 34:15-15 requires an employer to provide medical, surgical, hospital, and related treatment necessary to cure and relieve the effects of a compensable work injury. The workers’ compensation carrier may therefore have to provide authorized treatment for a compensable work-related truck accident.
New Jersey coordinates workers’ compensation with PIP. Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-6, workers’ compensation benefits that are collectible are deducted from PIP benefits. Workers’ compensation is generally the primary source for medical expenses covered by both systems, preventing payment of the same expense twice.
Even after PIP, health insurance, or workers’ compensation pays, you may still face deductibles, copayments, exhausted benefits, or other unreimbursed medical expenses.
N.J.S.A. 39:6A-12 allows an injured person to seek uncompensated economic losses from the party legally responsible for the accident, including unreimbursed medical expenses that are not covered by applicable PIP limits. Certain accident-related medical costs that exceed, or otherwise are not covered by, the applicable PIP limits may therefore become part of a claim against the at-fault party.
The law also addresses deductibles, copayments, and qualifying medical liens. N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.6 subjects unreimbursed medical expenses recoverable under this framework to New Jersey automobile medical fee schedules. The recoverable amount may therefore be governed by the applicable fee schedule rather than a provider’s full billed charge.
Determining what remains recoverable may require comparing bills, benefit statements, PIP records, policy limits, and denials.
Who pays your medical bills after a truck accident in Elizabeth depends on your insurance, employment status, the vehicle involved, and whether you were an occupant or pedestrian. PIP, qualifying health insurance, workers’ compensation, or the truck’s coverage in a qualifying pedestrian case may pay first. Unreimbursed expenses may also become part of a claim against the responsible party, based on your particular circumstances.
Beninato & Matrafajlo Attorneys at Law, LLC has recovered more than $100 million for New Jersey injury victims, including a $4.65 million recovery for a pedestrian struck by a commercial vehicle. The firm was also named a Top 10 Personal Injury Law Firm for 2026 by Attorney and Practice Magazine. If you were injured in a truck accident, call (908) 378-8467 or contact us online for a free consultation with an Elizabeth truck accident lawyer.