Equal Footing for New Jersey Drivers: A Q&A with Senator Paul Moriarty on Right to Appraisal

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

Right to Appraisal empowers policyholders to dispute unfair insurance claim settlements following a car accident, but as an increasing number of New Jersey carriers remove or limit the Appraisal Clause offered in their policies, AASP/NJ has voiced its support of Senate Bill (SB) 4534, legislation proposed by Senator Paul Moriarty (D-District 4) that seeks to require all automotive insurance policies issued in the Garden State to include the Appraisal Clause, providing policyholders with the means for a fair appraisal and adequate indemnification. (Read the bill in its entirety at bit.ly/SB4534.)

Last month, New Jersey Automotive discussed why it’s so important for policyholders to retain their Right to Appraisal (RTA) with AASP/NJ leaders (available at grecopublishing.com/nja0825coverstory). While most body shops are aware of this vital consumer protection and its uses to combat under-indemnification, passing legislation to preserve this right requires the intervention of legislators, who must first be educated about what RTA is and why it matters!

So, how did Senator Moriarty learn about RTA, and what convinced him that it was important enough to his constituents to advocate for inclusion of the Appraisal Clause in all auto insurance policies written in New Jersey? He graciously sat down with New Jersey Automotive to share his thoughts with readers. 

New Jersey Automotive: Thanks for chatting with us, Senator Moriarty. In May, you introduced SB 4534 to the 221st Legislature. What is the purpose of SB 4534? What problem(s) would it solve?

Senator Paul Moriarty: The goal behind SB 4534 is to give consumers an equal footing with insurers. Insurers should be advocates for their policyholders, but it does not seem like that’s always the case. As consumers, we purchase a product – our insurance policies – and expect our carriers to look out for our best interests, but I’ve heard from some of my constituents that those expectations have been disappointed, leaving them feeling that they’ve been abandoned by their insurance company and put in a difficult situation where they must decide between getting their vehicle repaired at a certain price point or a specific location where they aren’t confident in the safety of the repairs…or believing the shop they trust that insists there’s much more damage, which will cost double. Stuck in the middle, the consumer doesn’t know what to do. Meanwhile, they need their car, so there is a time pressure as well as a financial pressure. 

Of course, this doesn’t happen on every claim. I’ve personally had very good experiences when I’ve needed vehicle repairs and felt my insurer took care of me properly; however, I’ve learned of instances where that’s not the case. For example, a constituent took their car to the certified shop they’ve trusted for years who told them that there was $20,000 in damage, but after a 10-minute inspection, the insurance adjuster wrote an appraisal for $5,000 because they didn’t see what was behind the dented frame and insisted the car could be fixed for that price at a [DRP] shop across town.

There seems to be a disregard for the fact that vehicles are becoming more complex with sensors and other ADAS equipment that require repairs and aren’t immediately visible. This is not your father’s Buick. I sympathize with the insurance companies that are trying to maintain profitability, but consumers deserve to be protected and should have the right to contest the appraisal that their carrier gives them by hiring their own appraiser and hashing out the details. I’m not sure SB 4534 will completely resolve every under-indemnification problem, but it will ensure every policy includes the Appraisal Clause, giving New Jersey drivers the ability to protect their own interests. 

NJA: How did you learn about Right to Appraisal, and why did you decide to sponsor SB 4534?

PM: Several constituents in my district brought this issue to me, and I didn’t know what to do, so I started educating myself on RTA. One lady was a widow whose husband passed away the year before. He had always dealt with anything related to her vehicle, so when she got into an accident, she took her car to the shop that he had always dealt with. That shop told her there was $18,000 in damage, but her insurer insisted it would only cost $3,500 to repair it. She didn’t have the money to make up the difference, so the carrier wanted her to take it to another shop, but she was hesitant because the shop she trusted assured her that $3,500 would not repair it properly. Luckily, her policy included the Appraisal Clause, so she invoked the RTA and received the $18,000 needed to correctly repair her car.

But what if her policy hadn’t included that provision? No one should have to deal with this type of dilemma. While educating myself on this issue, I’ve heard countless examples from shops of nearly identical situations, and it’s baffling. I can’t help but wonder how an insurance appraiser can spend 10 minutes looking at a car, never talk to the shop that performed a complete disassembly and then insist that the shop down the street can fix it for less. How do they know how much it will cost at a shop that hasn’t even seen the car?!

NJA: What experience do you have with consumer protection legislation of this nature?

PM: I’ve been a consumer advocate for many years. Long before I became involved in the government, I spent 25 years as a reporter on consumer affairs in Philadelphia. As a New Jersey Assemblyman, I chaired the Consumer Affairs Committee for 16 years. I’ve always been interested in supporting issues that affect consumers; because they typically don’t have lobbyists roaming the hallways in Trenton, I’ve taken it upon myself to advocate for their interests to ensure they aren’t getting ripped off. When it comes to RTA, the more I learned, the more I became convinced that the Legislature needs to take action to correct this issue. SB 4534 is a great first step in the right direction. 

NJA: If SB 4534 passes and becomes part of New Jersey law, how will it impact your constituents?

PM: Everyone would have the right to challenge their insurance company’s appraisal which would help ensure they’re receiving the amount due to them to properly repair their cars. The option of arbitration is unrealistic because few lawyers are willing to take a case with so little money involved, plus lawsuits aren’t just costly; with the courts being so backlogged, they are also time-consuming in a situation where the vehicle owner doesn’t have time to wait. They need their car now.

If all insurance policies include the Appraisal Clause, it then falls on the body shops to educate their customers about this policy protection, and as more consumers begin invoking the RTA, perhaps insurers will start writing more reasonable appraisals in the first place, rather than forcing their policyholders to challenge them for failing to do the right thing. 

NJA: Prior to the Legislature’s break for summer recess, SB 4534 was referred to the Senate Commerce Committee. Once the Legislature returns (likely in November), what are the next steps? 

PM: Once we get it past the Commerce Committee, we need to get SB 4534 on the agenda for the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee to be reviewed during one of their two meetings this year. We can do that by creating more buzz around the importance of RTA and ensuring Senate President Nicholas Scutari [D-District 22] is aware of how vital this protection is for New Jersey consumers since he approves the committees’ agendas. [Scutari can be contacted at senscutari@njleg.org.]

NJA: How can industry professionals and consumers show their support for SB 4534?

PM: Until my constituents started contacting me about this issue, I didn’t know anything about RTA; I had no idea this was happening to people. So, it’s likely that other legislators are unaware that this is even a concern. At any given time, there could be as many as 3,000 bills on the table, so it’s impossible to know about all of them, but as legislators, we represent the citizens of our districts, and if we know something is important to them, it’s going to get our attention. Nearly every bill I’ve supported during my 21 years in office originated with a call, email or conversation initiated by a constituent who educated me on a problem they’d encountered, which led me to decide ‘we need to do something about this!’ If it matters to the people I’ve been elected to represent, it matters to me, too. 

Shops need to educate their customers, and both parties should reach out to the senators and assemblypeople representing their districts to educate them about RTA and ask them to sign onto SB 4534 as co-sponsors or to support the bill when it gets put to a vote. 

Access contact information for your district’s New Jersey senators and assembly people by visiting
njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-roster.

Want more? Check out the September 2025 issue of New Jersey Automotive!