Court grants defendant’s motion to dismiss and compel arbitration.

This suit was brought as a breach of contract action for failure to pay PIP benefits. In response to the plaintiff’s complaint, Plymouth Rock filed a motion to dismiss and compel arbitration. 

In its motion, Plymouth Rock cited both its policy language and the New Jersey Automobile Reparation Reform Act (AICA), N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 39:6A-1 to 6A-35. This statute requires that every automobile liability insurance policy provide PIP benefits and permits not only the claimant, but “any party” to a PIP dispute, to choose dispute resolution rather than a traditional court action. Plymouth Rock argued that under the legal doctrine of lex loci contractus, the court must apply the law of the state in which the policy was issued and sought the enforcement of its right to choose dispute resolution, as opposed to continuing to litigate the issues presented in the lawsuit. 

The court agreed and ruled in Plymouth Rock’s favor, dismissing the instant suit and ordering the plaintiff to engage and complete arbitration pursuant to New Jersey’s Automobile Reparation Reform Act.
 

_{Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2023 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2023 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}