S 3173 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Requires defendants, including insurance companies named as defendants, to be properly identified in causes of action.

S 3173 requires defendants in damage-recovery lawsuits - including insurance companies - to be properly identified by their official legal names throughout all legal proceedings. Insurance companies must use their legally approved names (as filed with the Banking Commissioner), not assumed or fictitious names, in all court documents and at trial. The law also mandates that trial judges inform jurors of the correct legal name of any insurance company defendant. This applies to all such cases in New Jersey immediately upon enactment.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

General Assembly Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 23, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Reprint · 3 edits

MINOR

The First Reprint of S3173 narrows the bill's scope in two significant ways: it now applies only to actions for recovery of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage (rather than all damage actions), and it is limited to automobile insurance required by statute. Additionally, the effective date provision was changed so the law no longer applies retroactively to all causes of action, but only to those pending or filed on or after enactment.

Scope change

The bill's scope was substantially narrowed: it now covers only UIM/UM coverage actions involving statutorily required automobile insurance, and no longer applies retroactively to all causes of action.

SCOPE

Subsection a was narrowed from applying to 'an action for the recovery of damages' to only 'an action for the recovery of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.' This limits the bill to UIM/UM cases rather than all personal injury or property damage suits.

New subsection 1c was added, restricting the entire section to automobile insurance required pursuant to C.17:28-1.1 (the state's mandatory auto insurance statute). This excludes voluntary or non-required coverage from the bill's requirements.

TIMELINE

The effective date provision was changed from 'shall apply to all causes of action' (fully retroactive) to 'shall apply to causes of action that are pending or filed on or after the date of enactment.' This removes retroactive application to cases already resolved before enactment.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 23, 2026

Committee

Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee

lower

Mar 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by the Senate (25-12)

upper

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee

upper

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors