Florida Personal Injury Attorney
FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW IF YOU ARE IN A CAR ACCIDENT:
1. Call the authorities. If anyone is injured, call 9-1-1. Otherwise, contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (“JSO”) at (904) 630-0500 to report your accident. It is important to do so to ensure that you are provided appropriate contact information from the other driver, including his driver’s license number, insurance company/policy #, address and phone number in order to efficiently process your claim for benefits. Remember, even if you receive a citation, it is not admissible in civil court (if you sue to recover damages) to prove the accident was your fault.
2. Florida is a limited no-fault liability state. This means that regardless of who is at fault for the accident, each driver is responsible for obtaining personal injury protection (P.I.P.) coverage, which insures the first $10,000 worth of medical benefits and loss wages stemming from the accident. PIP benefits generally pay 80% of medical expenses and 60% of your weekly earnings (before deductions). As a result, you must prove your damages exceed $10,000 in order to procure a recovery from the at-fault driver.
3. Most Florida Drivers are either under-insured or uninsured altogether. Protect yourself by purchasing uninsured/under insured motorist (“UM”) coverage. Um coverage is relatively inexpensive, and protects you when the at-fault party doesn’t have enough insurance to pay your damages after your PIP benefits have been depleted. Most insurance carrier will allow you to purchase as much UM coverage as you have bodily injury (“BI”) liability coverage (this protects you when you are at fault and cause injuries to another person in excess of $10,000). In other words, if you have $50,000 worth of BI coverage, you can purchase $50,000 of UM coverage.
4. You should not give a recorded statement. While your own insurance company may require that you give a recorded statement pursuant to your coverage agreement, you gain absolutely nothing and risk losing precious benefits by giving a recorded statement to the at-fault party’s insurance company. If your opponent’s insurance company accepts liability and agrees to pay for the damage to your car, it is not doing you a favor—this is what insurance companies are supposed to do. Do not let them persuade you that it is ok to give a statement.
5. Personal injury attorneys are paid on a contingency basis. This means you do not have to pay fees for attorney services unless the attorney procures a recovery, so there is no risk for you to have an attorney. If your case is one which settles before a lawsuit is filed (pre-suit settlement), the attorney fee will be limited to 33&1/3% of the total recovery obtained (you will also be responsible for paying litigation costs advanced by your attorney). If a pre-suit settlement is not obtained and it is necessary to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party, the fee increases to 40%. At this point, the insurance company will transfer the handling of the claim to an attorney to defend the at-fault driver. Remember, insurance companies always have the benefit of legal advice at their immediate disposal, and so should you!
If you are in a car accident or suffer an injury on someone else's property, contact us. Let us evaluate the facts of your case and determine who is liable. Florida law requires vehicle owners and property owners to have at least $10,000 of insurance to cover medical, funeral, and disability benefits regardless of fault.
If your damages exceed $10,000 then we will seek to recover the balance from the person at fault while you are receiving medical care. If we are unable to reach a settlement deal to avoid litigation, we will take the responsible party to court on your behalf.
