What should I do after an Accident?

Call the police. It is important to have a police report documenting all the facts. Besides that, if possible, take photographs and get the names and contact information for any witnesses.

If your accident involves property damage and/or injuries, call your insurance company right away to report the loss. This is generally required under your insurance policy.

If you are seriously injured after a loss, obviously your heath comes first. Do whatever you need to do to get immediate medical attention. If necessary, call fire rescue and go to the nearest emergency room.

Once all medical emergencies have been taken care of, it is important to contact an attorney in order to ascertain your rights.

If you are at your home or in the hospital and have no transportation, we will go to you at your convenience.

For what types of Accidents can I recover money damages?

At our firm, we help individuals with all sorts of accident claims, not just automobile accidents. So If you have been injured in a trucking accident, bicycle accident, motorcycle accident, boating accident, or airplane accident, we can help you.

We can also help you with medical malpractice cases, unsafe products, even dog bites. We can also help you with trip and fall and slip and fall type accidents.

If you have any questions whatsoever, call us. The consultation is free. We charge no costs or fees, unless we recover compensation for you.

What is the value of my case?

That is a complicated question and it varies case to case. However, the value of your case or the damages that you can recover depends on the injuries and losses you have suffered. One large category of damages is compensatory damages. These damages are meant to make the person as “whole” as possible after an accident. Compensatory damages are divided between non-economic and economic damages.

Economic damages include things such as medical bills, hospital bills, lost wages, the cost of household or nursing help while you are recuperating. It also includes future medical bills and future lost wages associated with your loss.

Non-economic damages make up the other broad category of damages. These include things such as pain and suffering, scarring, disfigurement and loss of consortium.

What types of Automobile Insurance coverages are available?

If you own a car and it is registered in the state of Florida, at a minimum, you need $10,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) and $10,000 property damage liability coverage.

However, we recommend that you carry more complete coverage for your financial security and protection.

Getting back to Florida’s requirements, property damage liability insurance, or PD as it is often called, pays for damages that you or members of your family cause and are liable for to other people’s property in a crash involving a motor vehicle. If the vehicle or other property is destroyed beyond repair, the measure of damages is generally set at the fair market value immediately before its loss. If the car or other property can be repaired, the amount of damages can generally be set at the amount of costs to repair, plus the loss of its use by the owner. Generally, outside of the commercial setting, loss of use is equivalent to the cost of renting a replacement vehicle until your vehicle is repaired.

Besides Property Damage, the other required coverage in Florida is PIP, personal injury protection, or NO Fault coverage, as it is often referred to. PIP covers a portion of your own medical bills and your own lost wages after an accident. One might ask why my own company pay for a portion of my medical bills and lost wages when it was the other guys fault. That’s because we live in a “No-fault” state; under the law your company pays a portion of your bills and lost wages irrespective of fault.

This is an interesting area, because currently, PIP is in a state of flux. We just had a change in the law. It is more important than ever that if injured in an auto accident, that you get medical attention as soon as possible after the loss in order to preserve your right to file a PIP claim.

How can I recover compensation for expenses and damages not covered by my PIP?

If the at fault driver maintained bodily injury coverage at the time of the accident, you can your medical bills and lost wages that were not covered by your PIP.

What if the at fault driver who struck me does not have BI coverage? Will my insurance pay?

Potentially yes, if you previously purchased what’s called uninsured underinsured or UM coverage. This coverage will pay for your bodily injuries paid by your own company, if the at fault driver does not have insurance or maintains inadequate insurance. UM covers you for injuries, damages or death caused by the negligence of a person with insufficient insurance. If you have an accident with a person whose coverage cannot meet your damages, your policy will pay for the difference- up to the limit of your UN coverage on your policy.

How long do I have to make a claim and file a lawsuit?

If your accident occured in the state of Florida and your claim is based in negligence, generally you have four years to file a claim and file a lawsuit. However, it is very important to note that this are is extremely complicated; it’s filled with imitations and exceptions; therefore, it is crucial that seek legal assistance immediately after a loss in order to ascertain the appropriate statute of limitations applicable to your claim. That’s important so that you don’t “blow” a deadline.

Florida has many statutes that restrict the time in which to file a claim or file a lawsuit. For example, in a wrongful death action, you must file an action within two years of the date of death. And, in medical malpractice, you must file within two years from the date that you knew of the medical malpractice or you should have known of the medical malpractice.

Because this area is so confusing and so difficult to understand, we urge you to contact an attorney as soon as possible after an accident.

If you have no transportation, it is not a problem. Call us. We will go to you at your convenience.

Are there any up-front attorney fees/costs?

At our firm, we never charge an up-front fee or cost. We only charge fees and costs if we recover money for you. If a recovery is made, we charge a contingency fee or percentage of the recovery plus costs. However, if no compensation is recovered, we will not charge you anything.

When can I change attorneys if I am not satisfied with my current attorney?

At any time during the handling of your accident claim, you are the owner of your case, and you can change attorneys at any time, if and when you become dissatisfied with your current attorney. You do not have to pay your prior attorney any money until after the case is settled.

If you have any questions whatsoever, call us. The consultation is free. We charge no costs or fees, unless we recover compensation for you.

What if I have no transportation?

After an accident, many individuals are unable to immediately visit an attorney either because they are hospitalized, their injuries prevent them from driving, or their vehicles are inoperable. We understand that, and that is why we are always willing to visit you at the hospital, your home, or wherever it’s most convenient for you in order to get the legal attention that’s required after an accident.

Can I recover money damages if I trip/slip and fall?

Many clients come to us after experiencing a trip or slip and fall because of a slippery or uneven floor, and they want to know if they have a claim.
Under Florida law, a property owner has the legal obligation to maintain its property in a reasonably safe condition, and to warn of hidden dangers that he knew of or should have known existed on his property. If you have fallen as the result of an unreasonably dangerous condition, please call us as you may have a claim for damages.