Aponte-Correa v. Allstate Insurance

The Court concludes that plaintiffs claim for PIP benefits is timely, notwithstanding the fact that it was filed more than two years after the carrier’s last payment of benefits. I believe that conclusion is at odds with the plain language of the PIP statute. Even if we assume that the statute is susceptible to more than one interpretation, the construction advanced by the majority runs counter to the rationale expressed in our unanimous opinion in Ochs v. Federal Ins. Co., 90 N.J. 108, 447 A.2d 163 (1982). Therefore, I respectfully dissent.

I

I begin my analysis with the familiar axiom, “[i]f…