Legal Question in Insurance Law in New Jersey

Re: NJ Transit Accident

You don't indicate you or anyone else was injured, or that you are concerned about anything other than the car rental reimbursement. On that assumption alone, I provide the answer below.

In general, a tort-feasor (i.e. someone who commits a negligent act) is legally responsible for all damages directly and proximately flowing from the negligent act. An employer is responsible for the negligent acts of the employee committed while acting within the scope of the employment.

You must be very careful when making tort claims against public entities as there are strict time limits and notice requirements which must be followed, or else you will lose your legal claim. You would need to retain an attorney for further information about these requirements.

In any event, you indicate you are seeking car rental costs for 2 1/2 weeks. Whether a judge would award you this amount would depend on whether the judge thinks your claim is "reasonable." Assuming $40 - 45/day for the car rental, you are seeking $601. I don't think the daily amount for the rental is unreasonable.

This is a small claims case, but you still might want to retain an attorney. Whether this would be worth the attorney's fee is a decision only you can make.

The big issue seems to be why it should take the repair shop 2 1/2 weeks to fix your car. If the reason is simply that the repair shop can't get to the work for that time, it will probably not be chargeable to NJ Transit, as that delay is due to the repair shop and is not really "directly and proximately" the fault of NJ Transit.

I would guess you would probably have a tough time getting more than about a week of rental reimbursement if you went in front of a judge.

At this point, NJ Transit sounds like it is negotiating with you.

Most likely, you would have a hard time getting a judge to give you more than a week or ten days of rental, say $400-$450 at your daily rate. Remember, the judge might even give you less than that.

Therefore, while NJ Transit's offer is definitely on the "low" side, it is not completely out of the ballpark. I'll bet that they would settle with you for somewhere in the range of $400-$450.

Let us know what happens.

I strongly recommend that you consult with an attorney immediately so that you can explore your legal rights, obligations, and options. If you wish to discuss retaining my services, contact me at:

[email protected]

(973)-605-8995

(*Licensed in New Jersey, Maryland, and Dist. of Columbia)

[Disclaimer: The above comments are not intended as nor should they be relied upon as "legal advice", which can only be obtained by personal consultation with a retained attorney; at which time the specific facts and circumstances of your case can be thoroughly evaluated. This reply is provided for general informational and educational purposes only, and does not create an attorney-client relationship with the responding attorney.]