TRENTON, N.J., January 22 – The new legislative session has hardly started but already there are four bills introduced to restore the quality of life definition as a permanent injury to pierce the lawsuit threshold for pain and suffering lawsuits.

They were proposed even though a key legislator said there was no chance the definition would be added.

Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Union County), Chairman of the Assembly Insurance Committee, had declared the change would not be approved. Cohen said that the Legislature had given the companies almost everything they wanted in the new car insurance laws of 2003.

Even so, the industry is expected to air its views with the new Governor Jon Corzine. Corzine now is focusing on a budget deficit of $5 billion and property tax reform and may not get around to the car insurance issue for some time.

In any event, the four bills aimed at restricting lawsuits are among the 163 proposals pre-filed by legislators for the new session which began January 17.

The car insurance industry has warned that rates could go up by as much as $180 a policy if the new definition is not in the law. They contend that the existing law defining serious injury leaves the door open for more lawsuits.

The bills are A519, A1396, S734 and S778. They would set the lawsuit threshold to include not only serious or permanent injuries, but also a showing that an accident had a serious impact on the quality of life of a victim.

The life impact definition was struck down last June by the N.J. Supreme Court, which ruled that the definition was created by lower court opinions and was not part of the lawsuit threshold law on the books.

Under current New Jersey law, an insured can select not to sue for pain and suffering unless there are serious or severe injuries as the result of an accident. In return for opting not to sue under these conditions, the insurance companies have cut liability rates by about 25 percent.

The threshold option is used by 92 percent of the car insureds who have limited their right to sue in return for lower premiums.

The motorists selecting the lawsuit threshold limit their right to sue unless the accident causes death, serious injury, significant disgorgement, or scarring and fractures.

A fully loaded car insurance policy now costs about $1,188 in the state. That average is 44 percent higher than the national average according to latest estimates.